


Diaries: The Rise of Phoenix Drop

by Stelleroni



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Minecraft Diaries - Aphmau, Minecraft MyStreet - Aphmau
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 40,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27531154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stelleroni/pseuds/Stelleroni
Summary: This is mostly a transcription of season 1 of MCD, with minor changes here and there to try and adequately piece together the rebirth of diaries with the rest of season 1. I will fully admit to adding some aspects and scenes for my personal headcanons and possibly even a few OCs, but for now this is mostly a way for me to try and improve my writing skills.
Relationships: Aphmau/Garroth Ro'Meave, Aphmau/Laurance Zvahl, Dante/Kawaii~Chan (Minecraft Diaries)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 24





	1. Prologue - The Woman in the Woods

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Diaries](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/712657) by Jessica Bravura. 



The woman had awoken in the woods. 

She didn’t know where she was, and where to go.

She barely even knew who she was.

She wandered around, trying to gain some sense of memory, of what she should do, but nothing came. 

She looked throughout the trees and tried to give herself something with purpose. 

_ Shelter _ , she decided. _ I need shelter, _

She looked around, for some sort of hole or protective branch. 

Then she saw it.

A man in the woods. 

She couldn’t quite tell what he was doing, and couldn’t even see his face. He was covered in a dark cloak with some green mask.

“Hey!” She croaked out. “Come here, I need to talk to you!”

She made her way through the trees, but when she arrived at the spot where she had seen the man, there was no one. 

Then she collapsed.


	2. New World

“I heard something coming from this direction!” A man called.

The woman awoke to a sword pointed at her face.

Despite that, he wasn’t incredibly visually intimidating. He was a bit short, and his voice sounded as if he had just gotten out of his teenage years.

However, she couldn’t tell from his face, since he was wearing a helmet that covered the lower half of it, and a full set of armour.

“It’s not everyday we find a maiden in these woods,” He said. “Now answer me, Who are you?”

The woman watched him hazily.

“Don’t play coy with me,” He warned. “I can see right through you. You’re playing the poor, defenseless woman. Once I turn my back, You’ll take me for all I’m worth.” He said, accusatory.

The woman passed out again.

The man, who was highly confused, started poking and prodding the woman with his sword. 

“Ha, enemy: defeated.” He congratulated himself.

“Zenix!” Garroth called. 

Zenix turned to see the heavily armoured man walk into the clearing

“What did you do?”

Before Zenix could explain himself, Garroth walked over and very gently touched the woman’s pulse

“Nothing. She merely fainted from the threat of my presence.” Zenix boasted. 

“This maiden seems like no threat. She appears to be suffering from severe exhaustion and hunger.” Garoth concurred.

“Now that you mention it, she’s also practically naked.”

Zenix was, unfortunately, correct. The woman had only two white scraps of fabric tied around her breasts and loin. 

Garoth gave a long, deep sigh. 

“Zenix, as a noble guard, you should learn to be more respectful with your words.”

“What? She practically is! Look at her!”

Garroth, pointedly  _ not _ looking at her, stood up. 

“Give me your cape.”

Not waiting for an answer, Garroth stood and tore off Zenix's royal red cape and began to wrap it around the woman.

“Oh come on, I literally just got that cape from Meteli. Wait no, don’t put it on her. We don’t know where she’s been,”

“You should have kept your mouth shut about her attire, then. Carry her. We’re going back home.”

“We’re taking  _ her _ to the  _ village _ ?”

“We’re not leaving a defenseless woman for the fiends to feast on,” Garroth countered.

“But I defeated her,”

Garroth looked at Zenix, then to the woman, then back to Zenix.

“Zenix, I’ll believe that when you defeat the infestation of rats at our guard quarters. Like I asked you to do over a week ago. Now, carry her,”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Zenix argued.

Garroth let his silence be used as intimidation to Zenix.

“Listen, with all due respect, Garroth, please hear me out. We’re bringing an outsider into the village. With everything going on, do you think the people are going to keep listening to you? They’re already blaming you for the death of our lord,”

“ _ There was nothing I could do about- _ ” Garroth paused to calm himself. “I did everything I could. The least I can do now is ensure that nobody else dies. We’ll talk more about the village situation later. Right now, let’s get this maiden to safety. Now, let’s move.” Garroth turned back towards the village. 

Once he was out of earshot, Zenix picked up the woman, and muttered to himself, “I hope you know what you’re doing, Sir Garroth.”

☬

The village of Phoenix Drop was a quaint little place. However that quaintness was becoming overrun with poor care and drabbery that made it seem on the verge of abandonment. The half-timbered houses’ white paint had faded to a beige yellow. Every single house had at least a few red clay mission bricks missing from their roofs. The uneven cobblestone paths had weathered away the grass around them. The small wheat farm’s soil was almost entirely infertile, growing only short, tough strings. The edges of the village had let the uninhabited homes be disintegrated by time and wind. The only places that were kept up were the ones in the immediate center towards the market and the guard center. 

It was in one of those houses where the woman awoke. 

“-it’s only a matter of time before this village falls apart even further. Our lord and his family died in that fire.”

“We didn’t recover any bodies to prove that.”

“ _ Which is even worse _ . Imagine what that looks like to the villagers! There’s no one else to blame but us. The guards. We were supposed to _ prevent  _ this.”

“We’ll find a way to prove our innocence.” Garroth spoke.

“It’s just… frustrating. Wait,” Zenix turned around to look at the woman, who he didn’t realize was starting to slip in and out of consciousness. “What if we used her to fix this?” 

“Zenix do not conjure another one of your idiotic ideas.”

“No, hear me out this time. What if we blame it on her?”

“That would make us look even worse.”

“Not if no one finds out. Look, all we have to do is say all leads pointed to her causing the fire. When we cornered her, she attacked us. Get it? Besides, she’s practically dead right now.”

“Zenix…” Garroth warned. 

“Look, she’s not even waking up.”

The woman jerked up and grabbed a dagger from his belt. 

“Oh my Irene she’s actually attacking us!”

“Zenix calm down,”

“I wasn’t expecting-Wait. This is a good thing! My plan is working!”

“ _ We’re not doing your idiotic plan! _ ” Garroth hissed. 

Garroth turned to the woman, who was still holding the dagger threateningly.

“My lady, please. We aren’t here to harm you.” He laid his sword on the ground in an attempt to show benevolence. “See?”

“Where am I?” She asked, uncertain.

“You're in the village of Phoenix Drop, and you’re safe here with us. My name is Garroth. I’m the head guard of this village. This is Zenix, he’s my apprentice.”

“Don’t tell her our names,” Zenix whined.

“Zenix, remain calm.”

“You just said my name again!” Zenix fussed.

The woman moved to attack. 

She stopped just short of shanking Zenix when Garroth moved to protect him. 

However the woman instead gave him a hard kick to the stomach and went for the stairs. 

“Oh wow she can fight.” Garroth said fondly.

“After her!”

Down stairs, a girl walked through the door. 

“Garroth, you won’t believe it. I found a book all about the matron from the merchant by the docks and-”

Her statement was cut short as she greeted the knife forced on her. 

She stumbled back as she let out a scream. “What’s going on?”

“Emmalyn, don’t move!” Garroth called from the stairs.

“Don’t move or I’ll cut her!” The woman said firmly. 

“She’s crazy, I told you she did it!” Zenix exclaimed. “She’s the one who killed our lord, she’s bananas!”

“I don’t wanna die,” Emmalyn cowered. 

“ _ Everyone, shut up! _ ” Garroth shouted. He turned back to the woman, and with a much softer tone said, “Please, let her go.”

She just stared at him, completely unmoving. 

Garroth sheathed his sword. “Please. I know you're scared and afraid, but I promise, on my honour, that I will not allow any harm to come to you.”

The woman continued to stare at him, perplexity crossing her features. 

“Please, believe me.” 

For a moment, the whole room was quiet. Waiting.

Finally, the woman spoke. 

“You… are familiar,” was all she said.

“What?” Garroth whispered.

She dropped the knife.

“Thank the Matron,” Emmalyn breathed.

The door swung open. A man in his early forties stumbled in and raised a bottle in his hand.

“Heyyyyy… got ‘sum ale…” he slurred. 

The woman took this chance to grab the book from Emmalyn’s hand and chuck it at the man, who narrowly ducked in time for the book to fly past him and into the lit fireplace. 

“No!” Emmalyn cried.

The woman made a break for the exit and sped out of the house, followed by Garroth chasing after her. 

As the woman was running by the small farm, Garroth called out to the farmer in the fenced garden.

“Brendan, stop her!”

“Huh? M-me?” he asked.

“Do something!” was all Garroth answered. 

As the woman kept running, he, without thinking, held out the shovel in front of her. She immediately smacked her head against it and fainted from the blunt trauma.

“Hey, I did it!” he said incredulously.

However, the two women who witnessed him were less than pleased.

“You monster!” one woman cried. “How dare you do that to a poor defenseless maiden!”

“But-Garroth said . . .”

“We’ll teach you to hit ladies!” she said, already rolling up her sleeves.

☬

The woman had been laid on a bed in a different building than before and around her were Garroth and Donna, one of the women who had previously taught Brendan to not hit ladies. 

“How could you let that happen to her, Garroth?”

“She panicked when I attempted to calm her,” Garroth sighed. “It didn’t help that there were people who were too paranoid… or drunk around to assist.”

“That’s no excuse! You’re the head guard. You’re supposed to control the situation. Havin’ Brendan smack her in the face with a shovel is no way to treat a frighten’d lady! What if she’s been abused, or worse?”

“You have my sincerest apologies,” Garroth reassured.

Donna let out a long breath. “Garroth, the villagers are beginning to lose faith in you.”

“Beginning?” Garroth gave a joyless laugh.

“This village cannot exist without a proper ruler, so unless you yourself become lord . . .”

“I don’t want that,” Garroth said, almost too quickly. Donna raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry, can you care for her for now?” Garroth asked.

“My pleasure,” Donna smiled.

“Thank you.” Garroth said, and without another word went for the stairs.

Donna turned back to the woman, “You know, you can wake up now,”

The woman’s eyes softly fluttered open.

“You ain’t gotta be afraid of me.” The woman sat up. “Probably less intimidating than a man in armour holdin’ a sword.”

The woman let out a small groan and held a hand to her head. 

“What’s your name?” Donna continued.

The woman looked at her through half-lidded eyes.

“Where’re ya from?”

The woman made no motion to show that she heard her.

“Cat got your tongue?”

The woman finally spoke. “I… I don’t know. I… don’t remember… anything,” 

“Well, at least you remember how to talk,” Donna started to move around the room, fetching random items. “Y’know, it’s not important you remember who you are, at least not in this day and age.” She reappeared from around the corner, a bowl in her hand. “It’s all about the name you make for yourself.” She offered the bowl to the woman. “Eat up.”

The woman took the bowl and drank tentatively.

“ Y’know, I ran away from my mom’s house long ago to become a merchant. Only moved here a few months ago. So my opinion, there’s no need for a person to have a past.”

The woman drained the last of the soup. “Aph...mau.”

“Hm, What’s that?”

“Aphmau,” the woman repeated.

“That your name?” Donna asked.

She nodded.

“Well, that’s a start.” Donna giggled. “The name’s Donna,” she offered her hand. Aphmau took it hesitantly. 

It was then Donna noticed that Aphmau’s had small, snake-like tattoos on both her arms that were exactly symmetrical.

“Y’know, I’m not that worldly, but a good friend of mine who is in town right now for a bit, and I bet we could find out more about your past and these markins’ if we go ask’em. Might lead to you finding where you came from.”

“But you said-”   
“I say lots’a things. Besides, you never know! Maybe a long lost princess’s parents will shower me with gold if I return ya.” She laughed. “Lighten up. I’m just pullin’ your leg. Now come on, there’s no harm in trying to find out about yourself. Just don’t feel like ya gotta accept it, right? The past is in the past for a good reason.”

Donna escorted the woman, Aphmau, to the friend she had mentioned. However, Aphmau halted when she passed the garden.

“The crops, why are they barren?” she asked.

“It’s a long story,” Donna exhaled. “But basically this town is dyin’. Hell, lots of towns are. Merchants say rumour has it things ain’t been right with the world lately. It’s none of my concern. Ain’t got a guard or lord to give two bullcorns about it.”

“Your lord?”

“The glue of any village. The person who keeps things together with their guards. In fact, the lord of this village recently died. So even if we find anything about ya, most people around here’ll probably be leavin’ soon.”

Donna kept walking until they arrived at an almost barren marketplace, safe for a tall, orange haired (and mustached) man that appeared to be around Donna’s age.

“Visher!” She called, a ring of happiness to her tone.

“Donna! Good to see you!” The man replied in an equally happy voice.

Donna sprinted and engulfed the man in a hug. 

“So, is this the village you settle in?” Visher asked.

“Ha, not a chance.” She retorted.

“I heard everything going on from this lad here.” Visher pointed to an armour-clad young man who couldn’t have been over nineteen. 

Donna turned to him with an apologetic look. “I’m sorry your dad’s drunk again.” she offered.

“At least Sir Dale is only an idiot when he drinks.” he scoffed.

Donna placed her hands on her hips. “Well, look at you calling your dad ‘sir’! You’re gonna make a fine, full fledged guard one day, Brian.”

Brian’s face reddened and turned away. “Thank you, m’lady,”

Donna nodded and turned back to her friend. “Hey Visher, come take a look at my friend here,” Donna pulled Aphmau over to be inspected.

“Think you can tell us where she’s from? What these markings are?”

“Donna, why are you asking me when I’m simply a merchant. Doesn’t this village have a decently known librarian you can ask?”

A look of realization passed over her. Then a look of irritation. “Oh right, the crazy one obsessed with the Matron. Gosh, that slipped my mind, mostly because she’s a bitc-”

“Ah, Donna, there are children present,” Visher interrupted.

“I’m sixteen!” Brian whined.

“Oh, then eat your vegetables more kid, trust me,” Visher replied. Brian squinted.

“But Donna, why question the markings on a lady who can speak for herself?”

“She ain’t remember a thing,” Donna sighed.

Visher gasped. “Oh no, come here poor girl,” Visher scooped Aphmau and twirled her in a tight squeeze. He paused, returned her to the ground and took a hard look at her.

“Donna, why have you not clothed her?”

“Oh geez,” Donna looked aphmau up and down. “I guess that slipped my mind as well. I got so excited she might be a lost princess,”

“Every lady is a princess. No no, if she breathes, she’s a queen.” He stated with an air of finality. His head turned to Aphmau. 

“Wait here, sweetie. Uncle Visher we’ll grab you the best garb I have.”

Visher emerged several minutes later with a fairly conservative purple dress. Aphmau put it on with little hesitation.

“Visher, you don’t even give clothes to me for free,” Donna crossed her arms.

“My wife wouldn’t let me hear the end of it if I didn’t help a lady in need. Speaking of which, Donna, may I speak to you on a matter in private?”

“Will it take long?”

“Perhaps, but, ahem, it’s about the merchant’s guild,” Visher trailed off.

Donna let out a small gasp, but caught herself. “Brian, can you show Aphmau here around? I, uh, it’s kind’ve a ‘mportant conversation for me.”

“Oh, me? Sure, I don’t mind.”

“Good boy. Aphmau, you go with’em. I’ll meet back up with ya later and take you to you’re home for the night.” And with that, she and Visher hurried off.

Before Aphmau could express her confusion, the young guard turned to her. 

“Ma’am, I need to be attending to a matter of the guards. Would you be so kind as to follow me?”

Aphmau nodded. They then made their way through the village to an abandoned house that was crumbling into ruin. Garroth and Zenix were talking nearby. 

“This is a step in the right direction, I hope,” Garroth murmured.

“What else are we gonna do with it? Our late Lord Malik would have agreed. Besides, we’re not the only village suffering. The merchants are speaking that villages all over have people going missing,” Zenix shrugged.

“I wonder if that maiden we found was a victim of that,” Garroth thought aloud.

“Sir,” Brian called. Both guards turned their heads instantly. 

“Brian,” Garroth acknowledged, then moved to Aphmau. “You’re awake.”

“Aw, and  _ clothed _ this time,” Zenix punctured.

“ _ Zenix, _ ” Garroth hissed. He shot Aphmau what was likely meant as an apologetic look, but could not truly be seen because of his helmet.

“Forgive his mouth, it’s often foul.” Garroth apologized.

Aphmau gave a soft laugh, “I thought you were going to say that about his face,”

Both Garroth and Brian struggled to contain their laughter.

“You can’t even see my face, Just my eyes!” He defended, poorly.

Aphmau giggled even more. 

“Forgive us for before, but I’m glad to see you are settled.” Garroth offered. “Zenix, please inform Brian what’s happening.” Garroth stated. Without missing a beat, Brian and Zenix moved to a farther area to talk in private, while Garroth stayed with Aphmau. 

“Would you be so kind as to tell me why you were in the forest?” Garroth inquired. 

Any remaining cheeriness the woman had disappeared, and now wore a mask of confusion.

“I don’t… remember.”

Garroth considered this, “Where you’re from?”

Aphmau shook her head.

“Your name?”

Aphmau paused, “Aphmau… I think,”

“Foreign, I see. Well then, it’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Garroth.”

“Ga-rothe?”

He let out a strenuous chuckle. “No, Gar-roth,”

“I personally like Gare-roth better,” said a familiar voice.

Donna appeared without warning beside Aphmau and Garroth. 

“Good to see you two gettin’ along,” she added.

“I don’t deserve her forgiveness,” Garroth replied.

“Just be thankful, she seems like the nice type, don’t she?”

“Indeed,” Garroth brightened. 

“Don’t worry, I’m sure her personality will come out in time.” Donna laughed.

“You’re talk wasn’t long, I see.” Aphmau responded.

“Ooh, gettin’ a lil’ more bold, ain’t ya?” Donna sassed. “Yeah, it wasn’t, which means we can get you to Emmalyn’s sooner,”

“Emmalyn’s?” Garroth questioned.

Donna took aphmau’s arm and folded up the sleeve to reveal the tattoos she’d seen earlier.

“These markins’ got me curious. Besides, she needs a place to stay,”

“She can’t stay in your brothel house?”

“For the last damned time, it is not a brothel.”

“Emmalyn said-”

“I don’t care what she said! Even more reason to visit that  _ sweet woman, _ ” Donna growled. “Aphmau, lets go.”

“Um, okay,” Aphmau said, slightly concerned.”

“Wait,” Garroth stopped. “For what it’s worth from a stranger, I’m glad you’re doing better.”

Aphmau turned back and graced him with a kind smile. “Thank you,” she said, and continued with Donna to Emmalyn’s house and library.

☬

“It’s okay, Emmalyn,” She said to herself. “You may have just watched a vital piece of history  _ burn  _ in front of you, but at least you can enjoy a nice hot cup of tea, undisturbed.”

The doors slammed open.

_ “Emmalyn!” _ Donna roared.

“What in the  _ hell _ ,”

“Stop tellin’ people our home is a brothel!”

“What gives you the right to just barge in here unannounced! Besides, your home, by definition, can be considered a brothel!” Emmalyn quipped.

“I don’t care what a definition is because it doesn’t define who I am!” Donna argued.

“You-just…” Emmalyn stuttered with frustration. “You know what, nevermind. What does Donna the concubine want today?”

“I don’t know what that word means but damn you cause it’s probably bad. Anyway, this is my new friend, Aphmau,” Donna gestured to her.

“Heathen!” Emmalyn jumped back. Donna looked at her bewildered while Aphmau realized why she had reacted that way.

“This heathen tried to kill me earlier! But worse, she burnt my book!”

“Oh no, how dare she,” Donna rolled her eyes. “Just tell us what these markings are. I figured you would know since you’re  _ so smart, _ ” Donna pulled Aphmau and revealed the markings on her arms.

“She isn’t going to attack me again, is she?” Emmalyn quivered.

“No, I won’t. I promise.” Aphmau answered, guilt in her voice. “Not this time,”

“That was pretty feisty,” Donna smirked.

“Great, another Donna.” Emmalyn grumbled.

“No, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it like-”

“Whatever, let me see,” 

Aphmau stopped talking and presented an arm to her.

Emmalyn took it and studied it closely for several moments.

Eventually, she pulled back and stated “Unfortunately, I don’t have any knowledge about this.”

“What the hell, Why?” Donna crossed her arms.

“Because I haven’t researched it before,” Emmalyn bit. Her hand reached out and pulled a random book from one of her bookshelves. “And you need books to research things,  _ Donna _ . People these days are afraid of knowledge, so they tend to  _ burn all the books _ !” Her volume raised. “Listen, I don’t know a thing about her markings, so  _ please leave _ ,”

“You know what, fine. Aphmau, you’re goin’ to stay with Emmalyn for the night,”

“Wait  _ What _ ,” Emmalyn spurred.

Donna turned back as she headed for the door. “She lost her memory, she needs help.” She spoke in a calm voice. “Besides, there’s not a lotta room at my place with all the ladies who stay with me, so she’d goin’ to stay with you. Oh, and sense your hefidition,”

“ _ Definition, _ ”

“Whatever, since you say a brothel is more than one lady stayin’ in a house, I guess that means you now have one too!” she gave a vindictive laugh. “I do apologize Aphmau, but I honestly don’t have room, and was honestly plannin’ on you stayin’ here anyway since Emmalyn has so much space.”

“But- she tried to kill me!” Emmalyn protested.

“Have fun, you two!” Donna left without another word.

Emmalyn began her frustrated stuttering before finally declaring “I’m going to bed.”

She moved about the house before returning and shoving a blanket into Aphmau’s arms.

“Here. Take this blanket and sleep wherever,” Emmalyn grumbled. “My blood is far past boiling today to care about anything right now,” She added as she trudged up the stairs.

“Hey,” Aphmau called, “I really am sorry about before,”

“Sorry won’t get my book back,” Emmalyn grunted.

☬

Aphmau slept on the floor, for lack of a better option. She had woken up early, the sun just barely peeking over the horizon. Unsure of what to do, she went outside and spent a good twenty minutes wandering the still sleeping town, until her feet brought her to the small crop garden that was almost entirely infertile. She kneeled in the center of the tiny enclosure, and placed her hand on the barren sod

Her markings began to glow. 

It was as if she were giving her energy to the Earth. Something foreign and magic.

The flat dirt around turned into rich, fertile soil, she felt it go deep into the ground before startling back, wide-eyed and panicked.

With Garroth right behind her. 

“The crops,” he said, completely dumbfounded.

Aphmau turned to him, eyes wide with fear.

“What did you do?”


	3. The Village of Phoenix Drop

The man in the green mask had seen her perform the miracle. 

From the edge of a small wood, he had watched her kneel and make fertile what should have been dead.

He watched fervently, as Garroth inspected the soil.

“It’s been restored,” He said in awe. Aphmau still had a terrified look on her face. “Only in this area, though. Milady, do you realize what you’ve done? This is a blessing,” he exclaimed. “Are you-”

Aphmau stood there, tears in her eyes, gaping at her hands. Her markings had returned to their original dark grey.

“Milady,” Garroth asked hesitantly.

“I’m sorry...I’m so sorry, I didn’t… I didn’t mean to,”

“Why are you apologizing?” He took her hands gently. “Truly, you do not know how much a blessing what you have done is,” He spoke, “Sincerely, Thank you,”

It took him a moment to realize he was still holding her hands.

“Uh-um, my apologies,” He stuttered, releasing them, “I was just excited, Y-you have no idea how much this will help the village,”

The expression of confusion on her face was enough to tell Garroth he needed to elaborate

“I forgot, you are still at a loss for memory, allow me to explain:

“This village of Phoenix Drop is located in the region of Ru’aun. For many generations this land has been prosperous, but I’m sure you can tell this just by looking that our village isn’t doing well in the slightest, but we aren’t the only ones to suffer this fate. For almost two years now truths and rumors have been going around of horrible fates befalling villages, from tainted soils that bear no crops to people, Lords even, whom disappear or killed seemingly at random. Almost every village has a story of ill begotten fate to tell.”

“Why is that?” Aphmau asked.

“I… I truly do not know. I’m but a simple guard. The pressures of knowing do not haunt me. All I do know is I have to protect this village in hopes that a new lord will…” Garroth stopped. 

“Can you perform that miracle again?”

Aphmau shifted .

“I’ve been doing trade with other merchants to sustain a food supply, but if we could grow our own that would help our village so much, if you could just,”

Aphmau held a shameful expression.

“My apologies, you’re still recovering.”

“Sir Garroth, Sir Garroth!” Brian could be heard from a mile away. He ran to the garden and skidded to a halt. “Sir Garroth, my patrol spotted a werewolf at the gates!”

“A _ werewolf?! _ I- wait, wait we don’t have any gates!”

“Okay fine, the fences! It truly doesn’t matter, what matters is I saw a vicious werewolf!”

The man in the green mask was startled, mind going through every possibility of what was happening. He took a step back into the bush. 

“Show me where you saw this,” 

A twig snapped.

Garroth and Brian instantly drew their swords, turning to the man in the green mask’s hiding spot. 

“Brian, this is a good opportunity to test your courage. Go look at where that noise came from.”

“Me?” He stammered. 

“Yes,”

“Oh, maybe it’s just a deer, then?”

“Brian, a deer doesn’t make one solid sound. I thought you’d learn better in guard training. A deer would rustle the bushes around it as well as-”

The man in the green mask snapped several more twigs, trying to step back carefully.

“That’s no  _ deer!  _ Brian, come!” Garroth barked and pursued the sound of the noise, leaving Aphmau in the field. 

The man in the green mask vanished. 

Aphmau heard a shout in the distance. “Somebody! Anyone, help me!”

Aphmau followed the sound of the voice.

☬

Brendan was crying, stuck in the bottom of the well. Next to him was a drunken Dale, slurring a drinking song.

“From O’kaaaasis to Sss _ caleswind _ , I’ll make your heaaart bend, to the king of O’Khasssisss,” 

“What’re y’all doin’ in there? Get the hell out!” Donna yelled from the top of the well, next to an equally fumed lady by the name of Molly.

“Nooooooo,” Dale slurred.

“Help me,” Brendan squeaked.

“Get out, Dale, you’re drunk!” Molly called.

“Seriously! This here well’s our only source of good water in these parts and now it’s tainted because of  _ your stupid ass! _ ”

“Assssk me to get out? You get out! Don’tchu see, Donna? This is the end of days! What isn’t tainted in this land? The crops are gone, and so is my wife!”

“I’m right here, you drunken idiot!” Molly shouted.

“Ohhhh, Thank Irene, it’s a miracle! But it won’t bring back our son Brian from the dead,”

“Are you stupid?” Molly whispered to herself. “He’s alive too!”

“Oh. Th-thu… then what’di I get drunk fer?”

“What on Irene’s earth made you marry that man?” Donna asked Molly with a deadpan expression.

“His looks, obviously,” 

Both women glanced down at the man, who was, to put it mildly, less than conventionally attractive.

“Okay, I don’t know. Just help me get him out!”

“Uh, fine, grab on then.” Donna groaned.

Molly locked her hands on Donna’s feet and dangled her into the well in hopes of at least one of the two men stuck would be able to grab hold.

“Any luck?” Molly grunted.

“Lower me down more!” the echo of Donna’s voice responded.

“I’m-trying-”

Molly’s grip failed, which left both her and Donna as the third and fourth people in the well that day. 

“Oh thank Irene you two are here,” Brendan sobbed. “Please save me, I can’t  _ swim _ ,”

Dale turned to his wife with a dopey grin. “Molly! You must’ve fallen from heaven! Thank Irene gave you back to me!”

“I’m not dead,” she repeated.

“You’re just as beautiful as I remember,” He sighed.

“It’s your fault we’re in this mess, you good-for-nothing husband!” Molly took his head and shoved it underwater in an attempt to sober him up. 

“Dammit, Dale!” Donna began yelling at him, however with her accent and her quite impressive vocal speed, her words were intelligible.

“Don’t tell Garrroooth, he’ll make those angry eyes at me again!”

“You can’t even see his face,” Molly scowled.

“His helmet… it talks to meeeee,” Dale moaned. 

“Dale, Shut up, get your act together or else!

“I can’t help it, we all know this village is going to hell- oh hey, a rope.” He said nonchalantly.

While they had bickered, Aphmau had come to see the group stuck and fetched a nearby rope for them.

“Grab on,” Aphmau offered.

“That’s my girl,” Donna chuckled.

After they had all safely gotten out, Brendan dropped to his knees in front of Aphmau.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you,  _ thank you _ ,” Brendan squealed. “I thought I was gonna die. Please, please forgive me for hitting you with that shovel yesterday, I-uh- Aphmau, was it?”

“Um, y-yes,”

“Oh, out of the way you big lug!” Molly pushed him aside. “Thank you, sweetheart. I’m sorry you saw Dale in that state, I promise you he’s a good man, he’s just-”

“I’m so sad!” Dale waxed, still plastered.

“Upset,” Molly finished.

“How come?” Aphmau asked.

“Well, um, a lot of the guards here failed to protect our previous lord, so he’s not very…”

“Oh just say it,” Donna interrupted. “He feels responsible so he took up drinkin’ again.”

“Yes, but that’s still no excuse. He knows better than to act like a fool over his lord.” Molly responded. “Anyway, thanks again.”

Dale stumbled and dropped against a nearby wall. 

“Come on, stupid. Let’s get you some bread and get you back to normal,” Molly slung her husband’s arm over her shoulder and hobbled away.

“Wasn’t expectin’ ya to come and help us like that. Folks these days ain’t that kind.”

“They aren’t?” Aphmau questioned.

“Well, not unless you know ‘em personally,”

“But, you’re kind,” Aphmau pointed out.

“Oh shucks,” Donna blushed, “I’m only kind ‘cause it gets me places. Anywho, how was your stay with Emmalyn?”

“It was nice,” 

“That’s good to hear,”

“I slept on the floor,”

Donna sighed, “I’m gonna have to have a few words with Emmalyn about bein’ hospitable. I gotta go dry up and talk to Visher,”

“Did something happen?” Aphmau asked with kind concern.

“Oh, I just hadn’t seen him since sunset yesterday and I’m might’ worried about him. He was gonna room at my place for the night but,” Donna stopped, and made her tone less grave, “You know what? T’ain’t nothin’. But boy, do I sure need to get these clothes dry. Pardon me, Aphmau.” Donna walked off, but called back “Oh, and don’t let nobody push you around, okay?  _ Especially Emmalyn _ .”

And Aphmau was alone, or so she thought, when Brendan appeared from behind, shouting about something.

“Oh no! I was supposed to have the old Lord’s house taken down by noon! I’m not gonna make it in time!  _ Aw, _ man, Garroth’s gonna be mad at me,” He cried. 

“You’re taking down a house?” Aphmau inquired.

“Well, it’s not the whole house, just the parts that burnt. Remember I was taking it down yesterday, while you were talking to Garroth? I just gotta finish the top floor at least, but still! I gotta do it as soon as possible!” He began to run towards the house.

“Can I help you?”

With the look Brendan had on his face, you would have thought Aphmau had offered to make him king of Ru’aun.

“What?” he gasped.

“Can I help you take down the house and do whatever else you need to do?” Aphmau repeated.

Tears began welling up in Brendan’s eyes. “Really? You mean that?”

“Of course,” She smiled.

Brendan hugged her and sobbed into her shoulder.

“ _ Thank you. _ No one has ever offered to help me do things like this,” He let go,”C’mon, follow me.”

Brendan escorted her to the old lord’s house, and climbed onto the second floor to resume demolishing it.

After a bit, Aphmau turned over to Brendan, “Am I doing it right?”

Brendan made a long, contemplative sound.

“Am I doing a good job?”

His contemplative sound turned hesitant, “No, Not at all. Here, it’s more like this,” Brendan took his hammer and made a large swing, which took out a chunk of wall in front of him.

“Oh, I get it,” Aphmau said, showing no signs of getting it since she went right back to making light hammer strokes she had done earlier.

“Have you ever done something like this before?” Brendan questioned while continuing to hammer.

Aphmau stopped hitting the wall for a moment, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? Geez, you’re lucky. I have to do chores like these all the time and usually no one helps me,”

Brendan heard a puncture blow from behind him. “Oh hey, you did it!”

Aphmau turned back and smiled, proud of the small hole she made.

“That’s enough for now, I gotta go and fix the fence that was broken thanks to that werewolf Brian supposedly saw.”

“May I help you with that?”

Brendan began crying.

☬

It was no big fence, in fact it barely came up to Aphmau’s elbows, who herself was a rather short woman.

There were two small part knocked down that needed to be replaced. Brendan worked on the left one while Aphmau worked on the right.

“Wow, I’ve never gotten a fence done this quickly! It usually takes me a couple hours, at least!” Brendan awed.

“Did I do a good job on my part?”

It did not look like a good job on Aphmau’s part. However, she gave Brendan the most earnest expression it was hard for him to tell her it wasn’t. 

“Well, you know, looks aren’t all that matter.” he gave a nervous laugh, and gave it a light tap with his hammer. “Oh, hey, it’s actually holding up. It’s just looks… really ugly,” his last words were significantly lowered in volume.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. Hey look, there’s a nail sticking out,”

“I can get that,” Aphmau smiled.

“Nonsense, let me just-” Brendan’s hammer hit straight onto his finger.

He yelped in pain and began crying again. 

Aphmau gasped “Are you okay?”

Brendan kept lamenting “That’s what I get for not looking. Oh Irene, that hurts so much,”

No, Aphmau thought. Panic began to rise inside her.

_ Please… stop…  _ panicking _ … I’m… supposed… to…  _

She hit her finger with the mallet.

Brendan stopped wailing. “What-”

“Don’t cry! I-I did it too, s-so we’re even,” She trembled.

“Why did you-?”

“See? I’m-I’m hurt too. So you don’t have to cry anymore.”

Brendan’s confusion turned to humor as he began laughing almost hysterically. 

“What was that?” He giggled. “You didn’t even hit yourself with that hammer, you just sort of tapped it,” the last part of his sentence broke off into another laugh. 

“I… just… wanted to help. I didn’t want to see you like that,”

“You mean crying? It’s perfectly normal when you’re in pain,”

“Do you forgive me?”

“For what? You know, You’re an odd one. But at least you’re good for a laugh. I’m kind of a baby when it comes to pain, that’s why I never became a guard. I can’t stand the thought of combat. I prefer laughter to conflict anyway. Anyway, I gotta go and help Zenix with his ‘rat’ problem.”

“I can help you,”

“Are you sure? Don’t you want to do things for yourself?”

“No, I don’t have anything to do for myself. I enjoy helping others.”

“You’re so kind,” Brendan sniffed. “Alright, then, follow me,”

☬

“You dirty rat!” Zenix screamed at the crack in the wall. “I’ll crush you into pieces, and then I’ll crush your family of rats! No one will be spared, not even the babies!”

“Wow, I didn’t realize the rat was such a threat,” Brendan laughed from the doorway. 

“Would it kill you to knock, Brendan? You need to learn to respect the guards of Phoenix drop!”

“Sorry,” he chuckled. “I mean I do, it’s just-”

“ _ Why are you here? _ ”

“Garroth asked me to come and help you with your rat infestation.”

“Oh, I see how it is. I put off rat hunting for  _ one day _ and he calls in a ‘supposed expert’,” Zenix grumbled to himself.

“I mean he just asked me to help,” Brendan shrugged.

“Just shut up and help me with this!” 

A black fuzz dashed across the room. Brendan attempted to block it’s path with his shovel, but it scurried past and out the cracked door.

“I thought you were an expert!”

“I’m  _ trying! _ ”

Zenix chased after it, pursued by Brendan and Aphmau.

Not even fifty steps away from the house, Zenix tripped on a foot.

“Kekekeke~”

“What, who did that?” Zenix growled.

Standing over him was a red-haired woman, who wore an apron with a simple red heart sewn in the center.

“Don’t you dare harm my little friend!” She exclaimed. “Can’t you tell he’s scared to death?”

The little creature looks at Zenix blankly.

“Are you telling me that you’re the reason these pests have been coming back? It’s vermin who’ve been eating what little food we have around here!”

Brendan and Aphmau caught up to him. Brendan took one look at the red-haired woman before whispering softly to himself, “ _ Oh no, _ ”

“Brendan! You were gonna let Zenix hurt my tiny darlings?”

“Hi… sis… I, uh… didn’t know you were in town yet,”

“He was going to help me kill your  _ tiny darling, _ ” Zenix sneered, while Brendan was furiously shaking his head to him.

The red-headed woman let out a dramatic and betrayed scream. “Brendan!”

“It’s not what you think!”

She began sobbing. “I-I came here *sniff* t-to bring smiles, a-after what happened to the Lord… And I find you doing… thisss…” Her voice broke into another wail. In the background, Zenix had continued to chase the rodent.

“Noo! He’s gonna hurt him,”

“Don’t worry, sis, I’ll-” Brendan tripped over a rock and planted his face into the stone path. Aphmau, on the other hand, wasted no time in following Zenix to the edge of the town, where he had cornered the tiny animal into a corner.

“You’re dead, rat!” Zenix yelled triumphantly, however just as he brought his sword down, it was stopped by the sound of metal clanging together

Aphmau had blocked his attack with the knife she had stolen the previous day. 

“Please, stop,”

“Why should I?”

“Because… that rat will… destroy us all,”

“Uh, What?”

“Yes… if you kill it… it will tell it’s friends… and at night… they will whisper mean things in… your ear... Yeah…”

Zenix burst out laughing. “What are you even talking about?” He kept chuckling, “That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“ _ Zenix!  _ Don’t you dare hurt my hamster!”

“Don’t worry, this woman caught me off guard with her- wait. Hamster?”

Sure enough, the animal he’d been assuming for a rat was indeed a hamster, for it had no tail.

“Yes, that’s Mr. Sean Connery, my prized hamster pal of my new business called ‘Kiki’s Happy Hamster Party!’”

“What,” Zenix deadpanned.

“It’s my new business. I’m going to give people hamsters to bring smiles, and since my brother here told me about what happened to the lord, I sent a group of hamsters here to cheer you up while I made my way here!”

“So it’s been your hamsters eating the crops!”

“Yup,” Kiki grinned.

“ _ Are you crazy?- _ ” Zenix paused his rant and took a deep breath. “You know what? I can’t today. I’m going back to the guard quarters.” And without another word, Zenix marched off.

The hamster reappeared next to Kiki’s side, pawing at her.

“Uh huh… Oh, I see…” Kiki murmured to the hamster before rising and turning to Aphmau. “Sean Connery here tells me you saved him from Zenix by making him laugh, that was really brave of you,”

“Thanks,” Aphmau blushed.

“He also told me you helped the people out of the well, and you helped Brendan with his chores all day. You are a very kind lady,”

“I- wait, you can talk to animals?” 

“Kekekeke~, I can talk to  _ some _ animals, not all of them,”

“She pretty much only talks to hamsters,” Brendan clarified.

“ _ Let me have my moment, Brendan, _ ”Kiki said through gritted teeth. The hamster began squeaking again.

“Sean Connery likes you,” Kiki translated. “Do you want a free hamst-”

Brendan covered Kiki’s mouth. “ **_No_ ** _ , I will  _ not _ let another village  _ burn _ from a squirrel party, _ ”

“But they’re hamsters,” Aphmau interjected.

”Same thing,”

Kiki wrestled free of Brendan’s hand and began bickering with her brother, while Aphmau simply watched and giggled.

☬

Zenix passed the small plot of farm on his return to the guard quarters, where Garroth was seemingly laying on the ground and Brendan was standing next to him.

“Find the werewolf?” Zenix questioned.

“No signs. It just vanished,” Brian answered.

“Some werewolves can take a human form. What if it’s that girl?”

“It’s not her,” Garroth rose. “She was with me at the time Brian saw the werewolf.”

“With _ you? _ Doing _ what? _ ” Zenix interrogated.

“Sir Garroth was probably giving her orders to help Brendan,” Brian swooped in.

“Help Brendan?” Garroth asked.

“Yes, my mom mentioned in passing that the new girl has been incredibly helpful around the village. I figured Sir Garroth asked her for help.”

“No, I didn't,” Garroth said absently. “No, I had stumbled upon her healing the crops with her magick,”

“Magick?” Brian and Zenix echoed.

“Pardon me, Sir Garroth, but there aren’t many magick users in this area anymore. At least none that we know of,” Brian

“Maybe you were just seeing things. That soil is just Brendan’s hard work finally paying off,” Zenix dismissed.

“ _ I know what I saw. _ It’s been a long day, let’s get some rest.”

“Whatever,” Zenix scoffed.

Garroth walked away without another comment. 

“Give him a break, Zenix, no one trusts him right now,” 

“Maybe, if he ever took off the helm. Then I’d trust him,”

“Maybe he’s just shy,” Brian defended.

“Or ugly,”

“I heard that,” Garroth called. Both of the guards snickered and joined him to go to sleep.


	4. The Noble Guard

The man in the green mask watched from a steep hill that provided a good amount of cover as the woman tended to the fencing on a small plot of land.

Then he heard rustling from the brush behind him. 

He quickly drew his sword, ready to strike at any moment’s notice. He moved cautiously to the source of the noise, until he was greeted with a sword.

The fight lasted only a few moments, swords clashing several times before The man in the green mask’s sword was slashed out of his hand and he himself knocked to the ground, and the other’s sword pointed to his throat.

“You’ve taken quite an interest in this village for the past few days,” 

“Gene?” The man in the green mask questioned.

“Heh, I wonder, what draws you to this place?” Gene sheathed his sword and walked to the viewpoint that the man in the green mask was previously at. “The Lord of this village is dead. There’s no reason for you to stick around anymore,” Gene squinted, undoubtedly seeing the woman fixing the fence. 

“What you do with your own time is none of my business, but remember this: we have a purpose far greater than any emotions than you _think_ you’re feeling.

“This village is worthless. Stay and observe its downfall if you want, but if you allow _this_ to distract you, what happened to the lord here will happen to everyone,

The man in the green mask gazed at Gene with pure loathing.

Gene gave a mocking laugh, “What’s with that face?” Gene walked past the man in the green mask without so much as a glance, however before leaving he gave one parting sentence:

“Remember what you are and who you truly serve.”

Once Gene was out of earshot, the man in the green mask gave a long, exhausted sigh.

“Ass.”

☬

Gene went deeper into the wood where Sasha was waiting for him.

“What do you think?” Gene questioned.

“Well, he isn’t the only one surveying the village, you know,” Sasha shrugged.

“Our job here is done. We don’t need to be here any longer,” Gene scowled.

“I beg to differ. Something is happening here, and it’s strange that it’s happening as we’re to leave,”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t put my finger on it, but this village is changing. The hopeless feeling I once felt here isn’t as strong as it once was,” Sasha explained.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, but it all depends on you, Gene. Do you want to risk leaving this place? What if the Jury found out you left something behind? We shouldn’t have gotten involved with the High Priest of-”

“Silence, I’ll make sure we deal with any one of power hiding here,” Gene declared, his voice quiet but firm as he continued into the forest.

Sasha looked back on his figure.

“Of course.”

☬

“Zenix, how safe is this?” Brian was standing in front of a tall, thick oak tree with an apple on his head as Zenix aimed an arrow at it from several yards away..

“Don’t worry, I’m highly experienced in archery,,” Zenix called.

“He failed archery during his guard training,” Garroth corrected.

“He _what,_ ” an arrow planted itself in the tree five inches from Brian’s face.

“We don’t talk about that. Now stand still, I need more practice.”

“You’re crazy,”

“Courage, Brian,” Garroth offered.

“Are you even paying attention?” Another arrow whizzed past Brian’s head.

“ _Hold still,_ ” Zenix complained

“I have a better idea,” Brian fetched two boxes that, stacked on top of each other, was about his height and placed the apple on it.

“This isn’t as exciting,” Zenix whined.

“Yeah, but I won’t be dead,” Brian dismissed as he left Zenix to his training and moved next to Garroth to watch.

“I didn’t realize Zenix went to guard academy,”

“I suspect he did,”

“Wait, you mean you don’t _know?_ ”

Garroth shrugged. “I’ve known Zenix for a few years now. When I found him, he was in bad shape. He was terribly wounded and barely remembered anything,”

“But he seems so-”

“Put together?”

“That’s hardly the way I’d describe him.”

“If you’d seen him, you’d think differently,” Garroth chuckled. “Which I think is why some part of him resents her. I think he sees something in her that reminds him of that time. Then again, I could be wrong. Zenix is a complicated one,”

Zenix was crouching on the ground, mumbling to himself, “Stupid arrow…”

“I, uh, see the complexity,” Brian squinted.

“Sir Garroth, are you just gonna stare at that woman all day?” Zenix asked impatiently.

“H-huh?”

“Actually, I was going to ask the same question. You’ve been rather interested in her since she arrived a few days ago.” Brian added.

“Why is that, _Sir Garroth_ ? Is it because of this _magic_ she had that we haven’t even seen yet?”

“ _I know what I saw_. But that’s not why I’ve been watching her. She’s been oddly helpful for someone who just came here.”

“Helpful?” Zenix questioned.

“Yeah, haven’t you noticed? She’s helped Brendan with almost every task he’s been doing, Donna as well. She’s been following them around like a faithful puppy trying to help in any way she can,” Brendan explained.

“She sounds desperate for attention,” Zenix scoffed.

“I think she seems rather nice. Have you seen the village lately? It’s been looking slightly nicer since she showed up and began helping Brendan,”

“Sounds suspicious to me,” Zenix countered.

“Why can’t you accept someone doing nice-”

“He’s right,” Garroth sighed. “That kind of behavior isn’t common in this world,”

“Then why don’t you go talk to her, instead of just watching her do work,” Zenix pointed out.

Though neither guard could see it, Garroth was blushing under his helmet.

“Sheesh, give Garroth a break, Zenix. We’ve been on patrol ever since that werewolf was spotted. None of us have had a break to talk to anyone,”

“Until now! We haven’t seen that werewolf for a day. Just go talk to her. Hell, I’ll do it myself,”

“Zenix, wait!” Garroth called after him. Brian put an arm out to stop him.

“Courage, Garroth.”

“Oh, shut up,” Garroth spat and chased after Zenix, who had already made his way to Brendan. 

“Oh, hey Zenix,” Brendan greeted.

“Shut up,”

“What did I do?” Brendan mumbled sadly.

“You,” Zenix pointed to Aphmau.

“Me?” 

“Why are you being so helpful?” His question sounded more like an accusation.

Garroth appeared next to him, “Zenix, manners.”

“I don’t really care about manners, I want-- rat!”Zenix jumped.

“Squirrel,” Brendan corrected incorrectly.

“It’s a hamster,” Aphmau stated. She kneeled down and offered the little rodent a small stalk of wheat.

“Wait, you’re feeding it?” Garroth asked incredulously.

“ _Him_ , and yes. If I feed them, it’ll keep them away from your guard quarters. Of course, Kiki feeds them more than I do.” She explained.

The hamster squeaked in gratitude and ran off with the wheat stalk.

“No wonder. I was beginning to think that Zenix actually did his job for once,”

“Hey,” Zenix bit.

“Zenix does more than I ever could. He protects the village,”

“I… I do? I mean, of course I do. I mean, hell yeah I do!” Zenix said proudly.

“I wish I could protect the village as well as he does,” Aphmau continued.

“I think you’re overestimating-”

“Well, then, maybe I’ll train you sometime. If you can keep up with me, that is. Zenix said smugly.

“I’d love that,” Aphmau smiled.

“See, Garroth, she isn’t so bad,” 

Aphmau’s eyes widened.

“Wait, no, I didn’t say bad! Milady, may I please have a moment?”

Aphmau nodded and followed Garroth closer to the center of town.

“How have you been?” Aphmau asked.

“I’ve been fine, and you? I’ve seen you’ve been busy as of late. What has Brendan set you up to?”

“Oh, we’ve been doing a lot! Just today we’ve been working with the crops, moved what was needed in the marketplace, finished demolishing the top part of the old Lord’s home, got Dale out of the well again, repaired some of the roofs in town, got Dale out of the well _again_ , and helped Donna make lunch!” Aphmau rattled off.

“Really? Sounds like a lot of work,”

“But I rather enjoy it, seeing others smile.”

Garroth was slightly taken aback by the statement, before covering it with a cough, “Milady, there is something I’ve been meaning to ask you, well, two things, really.”

“Yes?” She answered expectantly.

“Have you recovered any of your memory. It’s been quite a few days now. And I was thinking maybe something had come back to you,”

“I’m-I’m sorry, but I don’t recall anything,”

“Oh. My apologies for asking. I wanted to ask you about the magick you performed the other day. Was it witchcraft? It doesn’t matter, what matters is, I wanted to ask you if you could by chance do it again?”

Before Aphmau could answer, a voice rang out from behind them, “Well, look at that, this village went to hell and back and looking better by the day.”

A man in his late thirties wearing an orange chiton and canvas pants approached them. “Evenin’ Garroth, long time no see,” The man had an impressively lengthed beard. “And who is this seductress here?”

“ _Paul,_ ” Garroth hissed.

“Yeah, I know, manners, manners. I swear, Garroth, you don’t act like a guard sometimes. You’ve got a stick up your arse like one of those self- proclaimed royals,”

Garroth tried to stutter out an excuse until Paul clapped him on his shoulder.

“Lighten up, I’m messin’ with yah. Nice to meet you, miss. Name’s Paul. I’m a travelling merchant and if there’s one thing I appreciate, it’s getting straight to business. Speaking of which,”

“Wait, you’re here early,” Garroth realized, before turning to Aphmau to explain, “I’ve been doing trade with Paul to keep Phoenix Drop from going hungry since the crops died, and since we don’t have a merchant in town we’ll starve without-”

“I’m a foodbringer. That’s all y’all need to know. But enough talk, Garroth, I’m afraid I don’t have any supplies this time around.”

“ _What?_ ”

“Y’see, the head guard of Meteli bought a lot from me this time around. Apparently there’s some kind of feud going on there that’s been hurting the way of life,”

“What about our way of life?” Garroth protested.

Paul motioned Garroth away from Aphmau to talk with slightly more privacy. “Garroth, you don’t have a Lord anymore. How long are you going to feign ignorance?” He said in a low voice.

“But-”

“Stop being selfish and realize you’re putting everyone in danger by giving them false hope. A village without a Lord is fair game to bandits and thieves. It’s only a matter of time before they realize what happened here,”

“I will make this work,” Garroth insisted.

Paul sighed. “You remind me of a younger me. Trust me when I say your pride will be your downfall.”

“That won’t happen. I’ll make sure of it.”

Paul gave a slightly dry laugh. “Fine then, I’ll give you some advice: a fellow merchant named Logan is headed in this direction. He’s about an hour or so out and he’s actually looking for a village to settle down in.”

“He is?” Garroth verified.

“Mhm. He’s a very well-renown merchant. Could keep this place supplied for months. He’s not partial for a Lord to be present, either.?

“Really?” Garroth’s hope was visibly rising.

“At least, that’s what I think he said. But yes, as long as the town is nice-looking, he may decide to stay here. Just cater to his needs, and maybe he’ll stay. But that’s all I got to say about that. Now, I’m gonna go see Donna. She always has a place for me to stay when I visit.” He chuckled. “I’ll be leaving here tomorrow, though. Good luck, and take care.”

“This could be it,” Garroth whispered , almost giddily to himself.

“What’s it?” Zenix appeared out of nowhere.

“A merchant! If we have a great one, we can get a new Lord!

“Don’t merchants feel safe when we already have a lord?”

“Not this one! Brendan, how long to get the market plaza fixed up?”

Brendan scratched the back of his head. “Eh, about a day? But with Aphmau’s help, I’m sure we can-”

“What if we all help? The guards, that is,”

“Wait, _what?_ ” Zenix backtracked. 

“An hour,” Brendan grinned, brimming at the thought of more help.

“Perfect, my sword is yours,”

“I don’t think you can hammer nails with a sword,” Aphmau pointed out.

“Fine, my hammer.” Garroth corrected.

“I beg to differ! You can hammer nails with a sword, watch!” Zenix charged over to a fence and started wacking it, severely damaging that part of the fence.

“My fence!” Aphmau gasped.

“Off to work!” Garroth exclaimed.

In less than an hour, Garroth, Zenix, Brian, Aphmau, and Brendan were able to fix up the two merchant stalls and repair everything else that had been damaged in the plaza.

When they were finished, Brendan squealed with delight, “You guys have no idea, ever since this plaza was left to rot, I’ve been wanting to fix it up, but I’ve had so many chores where people actually live that I couldn’t, but now it’s back to its former glory-”

“Shut up, will you?” Zenix groaned.

Brendan started weeping with tears of joy. “Thank you, Aphmau,”

“We helped, too!” Zenix complained.

“Yeah, but you’ve gotta admit it went faster since they’d already been working on it,” Brian defended.

Garroth came from behind them. “Sir Dale has spotted the merchant on the way. Brian, go keep your father in check with patrol on the outskirts of the village.”

“Yes, sir,” Brian ran to make sure his drunken father did not ruin this one chance they had.

“Zenix, keep patrol in the village. I want to make sure the merchant feels as safe as possible,” Garroth instructed.

“Yes, Sir Garroth,” Zenix left to do as asked.

“What about us?”

“You two, look like you live here.”

“Done!”

“Wait, how do we do that?’ Aphmau asked.

“Just make it believable! Now, I’m going to greet him.” Garroth ran off.

Brendan and Aphmau looked at each other.

☬

A blonde man in his early thirties rode up to the entrance of the village, where Garroth was waiting for him. 

“Greetings! Welcome to the town of Phoenix Drop. You must be Logan,”

The merchant didn’t say anything until he dismounted his horse and gazed at the entrance to Phoenix Drop.

“This village looks like a donkey’s rear. No gates or any fortification.”

“We’re actually working on that,” Garroth said through gritted teeth, ignoring the man’s previous comment. 

“Are ya, now? Alright then, show me what your hellhole has to offer,”

It took all of Garroth’s strength not to bang either the merchant’s or his own head into the nearest tree. The same thought replayed in his mind: _For the people... For the people,_

  
  
  


☬

“What’s on your mind, Donna?” Paul asked as she served him a bowl of mushroom soup.

Donna was lost in thought, “Huh?”

“Well the Donna I know is spunky, and don’t take no lip without giving any, and so far you haven’t said much other than ‘Paul, come in, come in.’ What’s wrong?”

“It’s Visher,” 

“What about him?”

“I haven’t seen ‘em in days. I’m mighty worried about him, now.”

“Are his wares still in town?”

Donna sighed, “Yeah, I brought them to my place to keep them safe ‘till he returned but,”

“Something happened, then. No merchant leaves their wares unprotected.”

“But the only thing that could happen is-”

“Try not to think about it,” Paul soothed, “Come, let’s eat for now,”

“I’m… gonna go look for him one more time,” Donna said, and left without saying another word.

☬

“A rather nice village, repairs look recent, though.” Logan sighed.

“That’s because we keep most of our repairs up to date often,” Garroth excused.

“Really, then for that amount of work there’s not many villagers here to appreciate it,”

“That’s… because… they’re all out,”

“Are they, now?” Logan asked suspiciously. “And who are those awkward folk?” He jerked his head toward the Plaza. Garroth followed his movement.

“Oh my Irene, no,” Garroth whispered to himself.

Brendan was lying on the ground next to Aphmau, who was pretending to drink tea out of a random teacup.

“Aphmau, what are you doing?” Brendan asked.

“I don’t _know_ , I’m doing what Emmalyn does.” Aphmau shrugged. “What are _you_ doing?”

“I’m playing dead, it makes them believe we’re a real village with real problems,”

“What’re they doing?” Logan squinted.

Garroth gave a false laugh, and stuttered a few moments before calling out to them, “Brendan, Aphmau, come here!”

Both Aphmau and Brendan moved quickly to where they were summoned.

“Meet Logan, he’s the new merchant who might be interested in living here,” Garroth introduced.

“Really Now? Pleasure to meet you,” Brendan extended his hand.

Logan looked him up and down before turning back to Garroth.

“You know, I’m rather interested in this place. There’s no competition here, a land I can work into my trade,”

“Really?” Garroth said expectantly.

“Yeah, however there’s two things I need to assure here before I can make my choice,”

“Name it,”

“How well is the soil? I can’t make a market without proper crops,”

Before Brendan opened his mouth, Garroth stepped in. “Well, we have one patch of land that grow beautifully, and I’m sure the rest will be fine.”

“Alright, and next, where’s your Lord?”

Everyone’s blood ran cold.

“Our Lord?”

“Yes. I won’t settle for a hellhole without someone to blame,”

“Well… it’s a… long story…”

“This is our Lord,” Brendan pointed to Aphmau.

“ _What?_ ” Garroth snapped.

“ _Really,_ ”

Aphmau stumbled over words she could possibly say, but Logan spoke first.

“Huh, then let me say, this village is real crap.”

“Zenix!” Zenix appeared in an instant.

“Show Logan here our most bountiful farm,”

“Yes sir, This way,”

As soon as Logan was out of earshot, Garroth spoke “What are you doing?”

“You said this merchant was important and to make sure he had what he needed, so…”

“It’s too big a lie!” Garroth hissed.

“Gare-roth, do we have much of a choice right now?” Donna walked up. 

“Paul filled me in. Gare-roth, a lie bigger than you is better than dead bodies lyin’ in the ground.”

“But-But-She’s-”

“She might be a good Lord. She’s been so helpful lately and really cares about this village. In comparison, Lord Malik was a terrible lord.”

“Then, I could be the new terrible lord!” Aphmau half smiled.

Donna laughed. “She might not be the best Lord, but a good Lord is better than no Lord.”

“Are you okay with this?” Garroth asked Aphmau in a low but soft voice.

“If it helps this village, then I can do that.”

Garroth sighed, “-then only until we can find a new Lord-”

“New Lord of what?” Logan appeared.

“When did you-”

“Your guard, Zenix, saw a rat and tried to chase it off in a sorry attempt to impress me. I have to say, this village is one giant mess of-”

Logan completely stopped when he laid eyes on Donna. Color rose in his stone cold face. “Who is- I must be hallucinating. I’ll stay here to see how things go. But the moment I hate it, I’m leavin’.” Logan breathed, and went off to park his steed.

“What was that about?” Donna raised an eyebrow. Brendan was celebrating in the background.

“Did I help?” Aphmau asked.

“More than you know, sweetheart.” Donna smiled.

“Come with me,” Garroth asked Aphmau, “I’m sorry, but I need to ask you another favor,”

Aphmau nodded. Garroth proceeded to lead her to another one of the crop plots nearby.

“You’ve been asked to do so much already, and I am more grateful than you know, but I need you to perform your miracle again.”

Aphmau’s eyes widened in fear.


	5. What It Takes to Be a King

“Your Grace, Lord Malik of Phoenix Drop has been slain. He suffered a painful death by my hands. I have carried out what you’ve asked of me, I feel I am worthy of a place amongst the jury-”

“You’re lying,” He sneered.

Gene’s blood ran cold.

“You carried out what was asked of you… Tell me, what exactly did I ask?” The High Priest asked as he lounged on his golden throne.

“You asked of men to slay the Lord of Phoenix Drop,”

The High Priest gave a low laugh. “ _Your_ men?”

Gene took a restrained breath as he remained in his kneeling position, “Of _us_ ,” He corrected.

“Please, call yourselves as you are,” The High Priest smiled.

Gene sighed. “You asked… of the Shadow Knights…” Gene slowly took a concealed dagger out of his boot. “-To slay the Lord of Phoenix Drop,”

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear that. Could you, Janus?” 

A tall brutish figure whose face was decorated with scars stood in the corner of the room. A gigantic sword that could easily slash a man in two rested casually on their shoulders.

“Couldn’t hear it, either.” They gave a crooked smile. One of their scars ran straight across where their right eye should have been.

“What about you, Lillian?” The High Priest turned.

A woman, decorated in similar uniform armor to Janus approached Gene. Her hair was black as night.

“I think he… _cut_ … some details.” She aimed her sword to his level.

“Care to say that again?” The High Priest smiled, venom dripping from every word.

“ _You asked the_ Shadow Knights _to slay the Lord of Phoenix Drop, and his family._ ” Gene gritted.

“And did you?”

Gene was silent for several moments. “His wife and child escaped,”

The High Priest squinted at him.

“Lillian,”

Without so much as a pause, Lillian’s sword cut through flesh and the top part of Gene’s ear was gone.

Gene barely contained his cry of pain with a grunt, but made no motion to put pressure on the wound.

“If you show your face to me again without their bodies, it will be more than just your ear.” The High Priest warned, “Get out.”

Gene took one long, loathing look at the High Priest before rising and leaving without another word.

The High Priest rose from his chair and sauntered to a nearby window.

“We should have killed him,” Janus remarked, “Can we really let him go so easily?”

“Yes,” The High Priest assured. “We have greater plans to set in motion. Besides, he and his group are Shadow Knights, they pose no threat to us,”

“Shadow Knights will eventually cave into themselves, I wouldn’t be surprised if treachery runs abundant in their group already,” Lillian added.

“Aren’t they reanimated from-”

“Enough,” The High Priest silenced. “Are the other jurors scouting the land?”

“Yes,” Lillian responded. “Ivan and Katelyn are scouting the south while Ivy and Jeffory are in the east. The others are on separate missions.”

“I’m under the impression looking for your brother is futile. It’s been years since he disappeared,” Janus huffed.

“The search isn’t just for that, it’s also for a power that lies in slumber,” Lillian defended.

“My brother,” The High Priest sneered. “It’s not about finding him. It’s about making sure the future of O’Khasis stays in the right hands.” The High Priest turned around to face the two directly. “Make sure the Shadow Knights are watched. If any of them go rogue, let’s make sure it’s in _our_ favor. Dismissed.”

“Yes sir,” Lillian and Janus said in unison and quietly escorted themselves out.

The High Priest looked back to the window.

“I know it exists, and it will be mine.”

☬

Gene made his way through the forest back to Sasha. 

“Gene, your ear.” Sasha stated, mildly concerned.

“It’s nothing. They forget the Hell we were born from.” He dismissed.

“It’s still painful,” Sasha sighed. “This trip was pointless, it seems.”

“No,” Gene argued, “This trip just showed me if you want something done _right,_ you have to do it yourself. Come, Sasha, not only are we going to make sure the traitor among us watches his precious village’s suffering, but also find the power the High Priest seeks.”

“The High Priest seeks power in the name of Irene, do you really want to indulge his false fantasy?”

“I care not about his foolish beliefs, I only care about what benefits we get from him. We’re going to play his game for now, but he’ll regret every move he makes.”

☬

“I need you to perform your miracle again.”

Aphmau’s eyes widened in fear.

“Again, it’s bad enough you’ve been dragged into this already, but this is the one chance I have of saving the village. You’ve already bought us time by pretending to be the Lord, and for that I am indebted to you, but this lie won’t last long unless we can sustain it,” Garroth pleaded.

“I, um, I can try,” Aphmau breathed.

She kneeled down, and placed her hand into the dirt. Nothing happened.

“What’s wrong?” Garroth asked.

“Honestly, I don’t know how I did it before. It wasn’t something I was meaning to do,”

“Then how did you do it?”

“I felt it hurting, the soil.” Aphmau said, dazed, “I wanted to help it, and then it happened,”

“You… felt it hurting,” Garroth tried to understand.

“Yes,” Aphmau answered.

“Sir Garroth!” Zenix rushed over to the farm area. “Dale’s gone rogue again and is drunk off his ass- what are you doing here?”

“I asked Lady Aphmau to perform her miracle.”

Zenix gave a mocking laugh, “ Oh, I gotta see this,”

“You still doubt my word?” Garroth grumbled.

“Yes, not because I doubt you, but because you’ve been desperate lately for anything to work. Trust me when I say people do and see weird things in their time of desperation,”

Donna joined the conversation. “What’s goin’ on over here?”

“Garroth is convinced Aphmau here can do magicks,”

“I saw it,” Garroth growled.

“Really, now? I don’t doubt that could be true, but from Aphmau here?”

“I promise I know what I saw. She healed the soil around the crops,” Garroth insisted.

“Did you, Aphmau?” 

“Yes, I did,”

“I believe her,” Donna said simply.

“There’s no way. If she did that then why isn’t she doing it now?” Zenix scoffed.

“Zenix, just-” Garroth gave up and turned to Aphmau, “Please, My Lady, can you do it again?”

Aphmau sighed and kneeled to the earth. As she tried to concentrate and focus her energy, A passing hamster bit Zenix’s barely exposed ankle.

“I’ll kill you, tiny bastard!” Zenix chased after the tiny creature, sword in hand.

Aphmau’s markings began to glow beneath her sleeves.

“Wow,” Donna awed.

Her markings began to shine brighter and brighter, and for just a few moments, no one near her could see, however the light began to dissipate, and half of the field had changed into rich, dark soil.

“I knew it,” Garroth whispered.

However, as soon as her magic stopped, a blanket was thrown over her.

“What the-”

“For your own safety, it’s best you don’t go about showing what you’re truly capable of,”

“Visher!” Donna cried. 

It was Visher, alive and seemingly fine, except for the fact that his clothes had been torn to shreds.

“What are you doing? She was healing the crops,” Garroth began to get angry.

“We need to talk in private,” Visher told him, with a sense of weary urgency.

Donna paid no attention to his tone as she gave him a relieved embrace.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” She mumbled into his shoulder, Visher returning her embrace.

“No need to worry about me, Donna, but I thank you,”

“Your clothes,” Aphmau realized.

Visher released Donna. “It’s nothing,” he said, almost too quickly. “Donna, can you find us a room where we can all speak in private?”

“Of course, follow me.”

Donna escorted the band back to her house, where she also lent Visher a fresh set of clothes.

“Looking good, Visher,” Donna grinned. “Sorry about the basic clothes, it was really all I’ve got,”

Visher chuckled, “Anything works, Donna, just remind me I owe you the favor,”

“Been mighty worried about you, though. Scared me half to death while you were missin’.”

“Please Donna, this isn’t about me, and let’s get down to business,”

“Indeed, why were your clothes missing?” Garroth questioned.

“It’s not important, I… What is important is what I saw out there in the crop field.”

“Gotta admit, I was surprised, too. I didn’t think lil’ Aphmau here had the ability to-”

“She must never show it to anyone else,” Visher rushed.

“What?” The three of them said in unison.

“As a merchant, I have traveled far and wide. I hear stories and I see truths with my own eyes. Donna, it’s been some time since you’ve been a travelling merchant, but a lot is changing with the world, and it’s happening so fast. What’s happening in Phoenix Drop isn’t just happening here, in which I’m sure you’re aware, Sir Garroth,”

“I’m more than aware,” Garroth answered gravely.

“Then I’m sure to some degree you’ve been hearing about the mysterious disappearances happening across the land. People have been going missing or suddenly died due to an unknown fate, however as I’ve travelled I’ve begun to notice one thing these people have in common is the fact that they are powerful in some way shape or form. They possess a type of magick, influence or skill that is considered to be of power, and one by one are being picked off,”

“But… could that just be coincidence?” Donna asked uncertainly. “We already know people don’t take kindly to witchcraft nor magick folk,”

“The rate and pattern it’s happening at… this is no coincidence.” Visher concluded.

“So how does this affect us?” Garroth inquired.

“Affect _us?_ No no no, the question you should be asking is ‘how is this going to kill Aphmau?’”

“What?”

Visher paced over to where Aphmau was sitting on a bed and kneeled down to meet her eyes.

“You may not remember who you are, but you know you are special. The power you hold, you must never show to anyone outside of this room,”

Aphmau nodded gravely, “I-I understand,”

“Visher, with all due respect, couldn’t this just be a merchant’s rumour? I doubt anyone would pay attention to a remote village as ours,” Garroth mentioned.

“You’d be surprised. All I know is: it’s in the best interest if we keep this between us in this room. Not even your most trusted men should know,”

“I can vouch for-”

“Trust me, Garroth, people do stupid things when they discover power,”

“Do you have any idea who may be killing people with magick or power and stuff?” Donna asked.

“I just know it’s been happening more and more, and I’ve got a bad feeling about it.” Visher responded.

“Milady, I’m so sorry for putting you in harm’s way. I need a moment for now, please pardon me.” Garroth excused himself from the room.

It was a few moments of silence before Donna finally said “Hey Aphmau, maybe you take a walk, okay? Just to clear your head, and don’t you worry about no magick or witchcraft stuff right now. Just go take a breather. You’ve already had a hectic day with becoming Lord and all,”

“Lord?” Visher stumbled.

“Yup,”

“Wow, what did I miss?” Visher grinned, albeit slightly nervously.

“Thank you, Donna. I think a breather is… exactly what I need right now,” Aphmau sighed. She left the room, and only Visher and Donna remained.

“You know you had me scared to death, Visher. Guards said they saw a werewolf outside the gates, and...”

“Maybe the werewolf wanted to check on his merchandise,” Visher smiled.

“Visher, you know you’re gonna get yourself _killed_ ,”

“Lighten up, Donna. Mysterious things are beginning to happen in our world, it’s best you stay on your feet,”

Donna attempted a smile and put her hand on her hip “That’s been me ever since I was a baby,”

“Since you were a _baby?_ ” Visher raised an eyebrow.

“Yup. Don’t question or I won’t tell you where I put your merchandise,”

Both of them gave a round of laughs.

“But seriously, give me my things,”

☬

Aphmau walked into Emmalyn’s library.

“Oh, great. I was having a nice evening until you came back.” Emmalyn glared.

“I’m sorry,” Aphmau apologized.

“Hmph, well, you better be,” Emmalyn went back to reading her book.

“Emmalyn, Why is reading so important to you?”

“Because it gives me joy. Not only that, it allows me to know more about Lady Irene.”

“Who?”

Emmalyn gave a long dramatic gasp, as if Aphmau had just stabbed her in the heart with a sword. 

“Were you born under a rock or something?”

“Garroth said I was found in the forest,”

“Okay, fine. At least I get to talk about Lady Irene.” She cleared her throat, “Lady Irene is our Lord and Savior-”

“But I’m the Lord.”

“What? No you aren’t,”

“Yes I am.”

“ _No, you’re not_.” Emmalyn insisted.

“I am. Garroth told me so,”

“Garroth says lots of things. You probably heard him wrong.”

“No, he probably thought it was a good idea after Brendan suggested it.”

Emmalyn laughed. “There is no way you are the Lord.”

☬

“Why did you make her Lord?” Emmalyn shouted.

“I just told you, Emmalyn, it was caught up in a lie bigger than us,” Garroth responded,the annoyance in his voice growing more prevalent.

“Then tell the truth!”

“No, she’s going to be our Lord, end of story!”

“A Lord is supposed to be smart, or threatening, or some kind of useful! You are all morons! I hate you all!” Emmalyn stormed off.

“Wait, you never told me about Lady Irene,” Aphmau tried to call after her.

“You mean you don’t know about her?” Garroth asked.

Aphmau shook her head.

“Well, to give you the short of it: Lady Irene is our deity of whom we worship. The stories around her are plentiful and her deeds are tremendous. She was kind and-”

“Powerful,” Zenix cut in. “Don’t forget powerful,”

“I’d love to meet her someday,” Aphmau beamed. Zenix snickered in the background.

“She’s not alive anymore, she hasn’t been for many, many years.” Garroth explained.

“Why not?”

“She aged or vanished, I guess. Not many people speak of how she left this world because not many know, in fact not many know more beyond her accomplishments.”

“Really,” Aphmau said thoughtfully.

“Sir Garroth, we have to get to patrol now,” Zenix reminded him.

Garroth nodded to him as he turned back to Aphmau.

“By the way, I’m sorry about before, but I can’t deny, when it’s just us, I’d like to try and heal the land again. I’m off to patrol for now, Milady.” Garroth followed Zenix’s trail.

Aphmau was barely alone for a second before Visher replaced her company.

“So, Donna filled me in on this elaborate little lie you’ve caught yourself into.” He sighed.

“S-She did?”

“Yes, and it’s quite noble of you to do this for a village you barely even know,”

“Should I be scared?” Aphmau worried.

Visher gave a genuine laugh and clasped his hand on Aphmau’s shoulder. “Yes and no, but mostly yes, but you are going to do great things, and I can feel it. But, a lord without a house of their own doesn’t seem too threatening, does it?” Visher said knowingly. “We need to get you a new place. The question is: where can we build?”

Both Aphmau and Visher surveyed the land. There wasn’t much open space, considering most of the village was surrounded by dense forest. However, Visher noticed a tall, clear hill At the edge of the village, that would allow anyone on top of it to easily view almost the entire village.

“There, That hill will do nicely. It’s a great spot to overlook the village, and a Lord should make sure her people are okay, no?”

“That sounds great, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to build a house on my own,”

“Don’t worry, I’ll help,” Visher assured. “It’s the least I can do for you helping the village where my friend Donna stays,”

“I’ll help too!” Brendan appeared.

“Where the hell did you come from?” Visher furrowed his eyebrows.

“I heard Emmalyn yelling from across town so I decided to investigate. Either way, I’ll help.”

Visher gave a jolly laugh “The more the merrier. Well then, you have my hand.”

“-And my hammer,” Brendan added enthusiastically.

“Aaaand myyyyyyyy beeeeer…” Dale joined in, before tripping over a rock and falling face first into the ground, “I wanna help toooooo.” he gurgled.

Visher chuckled, “Now, let Uncle Visher help with the layout.”

And with that, Brendan, Visher, Aphmau, and a drunken Dale being dragged by his foot, began making their way to the hill.


	6. The World Continues to Change

It had been almost two weeks, and Aphmau’s house had been coming along nicely. The hill seemed to have previously hollowed out by an abandoned storage cellar, which made for a perfect and quite spacious downstairs area with a rather large window that was at the same level as the ground outside. However, after the dugout area had been cleaned and refloored with hardwood, the actual house part had become the main focus. 

“Keep up the good work!” Visher cheered from the sideline.

Aphmau was covered in dirt and sweat. “Thanks, um…”

“Something wrong?” Visher asked.

“Well, it’s been a few days since we’ve started on the top part and… you haven’t… helped… a lot,”

“Oh no, no, no, I have!”

Aphmau thought back to the past few days, in which time Visher dragged Brendan away from helping Aphmau cut down a tree, laid on top of a wood panel while she tried to drag it, and knocked down several parts of the wooden infrastructure.

“Really?” Aphmau persisted.

“Getting a little feisty, I see.” Visher smirked.

“Okay, I’m ready to help,” Brendan joined.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, you can not help her,”

“Okay, What’s going on? You said we were going to help her and you haven’t let me do anything aside from just stare at her!” Brendan exclaimed.

“He’s right,” Aphmau agreed.

“What’s that?” Visher eyed her.

Aphmau stepped forward. “You said you would help and then you- nevermind.” Aphmau retreated back to hammering nails into place.

“Tell me, what did I do?” Visher insisted.

“You haven’t helped and-”

“How does that make you feel?” Visher changed pace.

“Well, um…” Aphmau spaced.

Without warning, Visher pushed her into the ground.

“ _ How. Does. It. Make. You. Feel. _ ”

Aphmau filled with anger. She quickly stood up and pushed Visher. “You could at least keep your word!”

It was silent for a few moments, until Visher gave a jolly laugh. Aphmau’s anger turned into confusion.

“I’m sorry, Darling, but Uncle Visher doesn’t act without purpose. What you experience with me is only a taste of the anger and frustration you’ll experience as a lord. Your people will ask of you many things, from building a house from scratch for them to playing with your emotions and dragging you around.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Tough times will lie ahead of you. Let this house be a symbol of the strength you start out with.”

Brendan was crying in the background. “I get it now,” He said tearfully. “It’s symbolic of her strength, right? Since she mostly done it by herself, it stands the strong pillars of-” his last few words were inaudible due to his crying.

“What? No, It’s a piece of crap, it lacks structural integrity.” Visher objected.

“ _ Then let me help her! _ ” Brendan argued.

“No, This is a good start. She needs to do this by herself. Because when she’s ready, she’ll tear this one down and build herself a new one. I believe in her.” Visher turned to her and smiled.

“But she needs help!”

“Dammit boy, it’s symbolic of her to do this on her own!” Visher hissed. “If you want to be  _ helpful, go and fetch her some water from the well. _ ”

Dale woke up from his booze nap. “ _ I’ll _ do it! To the wellllll!”

“Dale!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get him, Lord Aphmau!” Brendan turned around to see Dale was already on his way over and raced after him.

“You sure are wise about being a Lord,” Aphmau noted. “Have you been one before?”

“Oh no,no,no,no,no, I am a merchant. I’ve only spoken to Lords, I do not desire to become one, I mean, not that you did but- nevermind. Let’s continue.”

“Oh, so you’re helping now?” Aphmau smirked.

“Just a bit. It will be symbolic still, just a bit more sturdy. Besides, I leave tonight, you know,”

“Wait what?”

“You thought I lived in Phoenix Drop? No, no, no, I am from Bright Port. I have a wife and kid who are probably dying to see me as much as I want to see them. So, let’s do as much as we can, shall we? You can always do this without me, it will make you even stronger.”

A part of the house structure fell down just as he finished his statement.

☬

“That person seems new. Maybe  _ she’s _ of interest?” Sasha remarked. She and Gene were watching two villagers on a hill from an even taller hill in the distance, taking camouflage from the surrounding forestry.

Gene gave a low chuckle. “I _ highly _ doubt it. Besides, we aren’t here to observe anymore. We’re here to make his precious village suffer.” 

And as he returned to the camp, he left four parting words.

_ “There will be blood.” _

  
  
  


☬

That night, Donna, Aphmau, Paul, and Visher loaded a small ship that would be sailing to Bright Port. 

“And there we go,” Visher declared as the final piece of merchandise was boarded. 

“Jeez, Visher, you think you got enough supplies for a half day’s trip?” Donna smirked.

“You can never be too prepared,” Visher reminded.

“”You know what, as a fellow merchant I can respect that,” Paul crossed his arms.

“See? Paul knows what I’m talking about,”

“All right, fine,” Donna raised her hands in mock surrender. Visher took it as an opportunity to give her a hug, which Donna reciprocated.

“Don’t be a stranger now, you hear?”

“Am I ever?” VIsher laughed.

Visher moved to Aphmau, who also immediately took his offer for a hug. 

“Good luck, darling, and remember to be strong. You should talk with another Lord sometime, perhaps it may end up helping you more than you think,”

“Let the girl get more of an idea of who she is first. Don’t want nobody takin’ advantage of ‘er.” Donna half smiled.

“What do you think I done, Donna? I made her build her own house. She’s going to build character,”

“So that’s why she’s covered in dirt?” Donna looked unimpressed.

“Better to learn the hard way, no? Anyway, I must be going now. You all be good.” He smiled and jumped into the small vessel. 

As it sailed into the sea, the others waved the boat off. Donna suggested that they get Aphmau cleaned up, to which Aphmau responded with a grateful look. They began walking back to the village.

Nothing prepared them for the explosion.

An explosion from the water, they all turned to look. 

“The hell-!” Paul shouted.

“What?” Donna gasped.

Aphmau raced back to the docks. There was no boat. Just burning wreckage of one, that were barely there for a moment, before it sunk into the ocean. Torn and ripped pieces of clothes and other items floated into the water, and burnt pieces of wood bobbed at the surface, forgetting how to sink themselves but so desperately wanting too. 

Donna fell into the sand and screamed a cry of grief.

_ “Visher!” _

  
  
  
  


☬

Gene and Sasha watched from the top of a stone hill.

“That was excessive,” Sasha frowned.

Gene gave a near maniacal laugh.

_ “We aren’t done yet.” _

☬

Aphmau hammered the nails into her house, without pause or even breath.

Brendan approached her, “Hey… Do- do you want any help?”

“No.” She said in a firmly quiet voice, “I want to finish this alone.”

“Y-y’know… it’s been a few days… I didn’t know Visher that well but… I mean, he was a good guy.”

Aphmau didn’t respond.

“Garroth is planning on holding a memorial for Visher… You could attend, but you don’t-”

“Brendan!” Kiki called in the distance, and quickly approached the two. “Aphmau, I hope Brendan hasn’t said anything insensitive yet,”

“Wow Kiki, don’t assume I’m  _ that _ much of an idiot,”

“Oh good, I’m not too late,”

“What do you think I’m going to say? I wouldn’t just explode a ton of emotions on her, I-oh no, I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to let my emotions sail away- _ wait no I-” _

“You know what, Brendan, how about I talk to her for a bit?”

_ “I swear I didn’t mean to say that, god I feel so under fire- dammit!” _

_ “BRENDAN!  _ Go destroy the old Lord’s house or something!”

Brendan ran off before he could make another remark.

“I swear…” Kiki shook her head. “Hey, how are you doing?” Kiki changed pace.

“I… I’m not doing good.”

“No one blames you for that. We’re all in shock. For a tiny village, things like that normally don’t happen. It makes me wonder if Visher had any enemies,”

“I doubt it,” Aphmau frowned and turned back to her work.

“I… I got a surprise for you,” Kiki offered. She then made a calling whistle, and a tiny hamster happily trotted over to Aphmau.

“Another one?” Aphmau gazed at the creature.

“Kind of, this is Cuddlezilla. This is actually Brendan’s hamster from a while ago, but she just travels with me now.”

“She’s cute,” Aphmau kneeled down and stroked the furry animal.

“She is, kekekeke~, normally she doesn’t _ travel  _ with me, or even stay with Brendan. She just does her own thing and wanders the land, but she ends up coming back just at the right moments. She could probably sense you needed cheering up, keke~”

The hamster couldn’t seem to get enough pets, and Aphmau couldn’t help but smile.

“Oh, look at that smile! You should do that more, you know.”

“It’s hard,”

“I know, that’s why I do what I do. Animals have the power to bring smiles to anyone.”

Another hamster came up to Cuddlezilla with a small potato lodged in its mouth and dropped it in front of her. 

“Thief!” Logan shouted as he appeared just behind the hamster. 

“Sean Connery, what did you do?”

“I knew it, you had those rats trained to be thieves!” Logan accused.

“I did not! They’re just normal hamsters,” Kiki insisted.

“Wait, you’re that animal girl who travels around with animals, aren’t you?” Logan squinted.

“Uh-um- Yes, I am.”

“Then learn how to train him not to steal. Should be easy enough for your rat,”

Neither Logan nor Kiki seemed to notice Donna appear behind them. 

“I did train them! Sean Connery acted out of love!”

“Love? That squirrel wouldn’t know a thing about love,”

“That’s not true! Animals have the strongest feelings. Besides, haven’t you ever tried to impress someone out of love?”

“Nope. Never.”

“Wow, quite the turn out we got here,” Donna finally spoke.

“I’m helpin’!” Logan exclaimed quickly, turning to Donna with a blush, and went into the inner construction of the house. 

“What was that about?” Donna raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing at all,” Kiki squinted smugly.

Donna focused her attention on Aphmau. “How’re you doin’?”

“I’m fine,”

“Donna, surprisingly, chuckled. “No, you ain’t. You stink.”

“Sorry, what?”

“When’s the last time you had a proper bath?” Donna crossed her arms, grinning.

“Um…”

“Oh my Irene you poor thing.” Donna sighed. “Come on, let’s get you a bath,” Donna walked over to Logan, who was busily doing something.

“Hey, Logan was it? Think you can help Aphmau for a bit while she takes a break?”

“O-Of course,” Logan blushed.

“Thank you kindly,” Donna nodded.

“But wait, I need to finish building my house-”

“I know the kind of talk Visher gave you, and trust me, he meant better than he did. Come on, steppin’ away for a bit ain’t gonna hurt nobody,” She said the last part in a calm, soothing voice, which was enough to convince her to take a break.

☬

Garroth and Zenix surveyed the land that their small cobblestone watchtower allowed.

“How could this have happened,” Garroth said woefully.

“Most likely explosives were set on the boat,” Zenix answered.

Garroth gave him a deadpan look through his helmet.

“What?”

Garroth gave a long sigh. “What I  _ mean _ is, why was Visher targeted in our village.”

“He’s a  _ merchant _ . Most have their fair share of bad clients.”

“But in the middle of nowhere?” Garroth countered.

“Well, yeah. Some people will go to desperate lengths. Speaking of desperate…”

“Yes?” Garroth groaned.

“Do you think that woman had anything to do with it?”

“Zenix, why do you continue to blame her?”

“ _Open_ _your eyes_ -”

“I know it’s hard to see, but they are open,” Garroth half joked.

“No! I mean like-your smart eyes, Sir Garroth, ever since that woman came into our village, things have been changing. More people have been coming in, the village has been slowly experiencing rejuvenation in some ways,”

“That’s a  _ good _ thing,  _ Zenix, _ ”

“Or maybe that’s what she wants us to think! We need to get to the bottom of this,”

Garroth turned back to look outside the window. “Zenix, I’m positive you're being paranoid. For now let’s just leave her alone and-”

Garroth saw Zenix running down the road. 

“Dammit Zenix,” Garroth muttered.

Meanwhile Zenix was busily trying to locate Aphmau. “Where could that woman have gone?”

Dale, who had passed out dangerously close to the well, happily exposited.

“D _ dooooooooo _ oooooooonnnnnnaaaaahhhhhhh…”

“Where’d you come from?”

“...Socie...ty?”

“Whatever, I guess you can be useful sometimes,” Zenix grimaced.

☬

Donna took Aphmau back to her house, where a nice steaming bath was waiting for her in her upstairs quarter.

“Feeling any better?”

“No,” Aphmau shook her head.

“Upset about Visher?”

She nodded.

Donna gave a long, exhausted sigh. “Y’know… I’ve known Visher a long time. It’s funny ‘cause I thought he’d go down in a fistfight or somethin’... somethin’ more  _ tangible, _ not just unexpectedly. If you ask me, whoever took out Visher was a coward.”

“I want them gone. If I ever find the person who did this…”

Donna eyed widened. This was the first time she had seen Aphmau show true aggression. “You’ve been gettin’ more and more of a personality since you’ve been out here. Kind of proud of that,”

Aphmau looked at her curiously. 

“Well, when I met you, you were this shy girl and now you’re thinkin’ about killing the people who took out Visher. And trust me, you ain’t the only one thinkin’ about that. It’s okay to be hurt, just make sure you’re expressing your emotions to the right people.” Donna made a thoughtful pause. “Anyway, you should relax, I-”

A door slammed behind them. 

“Alright, who do you work for?” Zenix shouted, accusatory. 

“What the f-”

“Answer me!” Zenix kept pointing at Aphmau, who was still sitting naked in the large wooden tub.

“Zenix, I have had it up to here with your accusations, I-” Garroth appeared too, however his rant was cut short the moment he looked to the tub, where a now-blushing Aphmau attempted to cover her chest with her arms.

“We… walked in at the wrong time, so… uh,” Garroth’s pitch got comically higher. 

“Nice rack,” Zenix deadpanned.

“ _ ZENIX! _ ” Garroth slapped the back of Zenix’s head.

“I meant this is some nice craftsmanship on this bath rack.”

“Get out of my house, you stupid, dirty minded-” Her insults continued as she dragged them out of the room and was finished with a slammed door to the face.

“What did _ I  _ do?” Zenix whined from the street.

Garroth slapped the back of his head again.  _ “You walked in on a maiden bathing!” _

Donna went back upstairs to leave the guards to their bickering. “Sheesh,” She finally breathed once she joined Aphmau. “Sorry about that, Princess, you just relax now, okay?”

Aphmau nodded. “Alright,”

“Try not to think about Visher. We’ll make sure we honor him, don’t worry.” Donna closed the door, and quietly said to herself:

“We’re gonna have to tell his wife and son as well.”

☬

“But why me?” Zenix complained as Garroth dragged him to the old Lord’s house.

“You have to help Brendan with finishing up this mess.” Garroth placed a torch into some of the remaining rubble. “This is your punishment for what you’ve done.”

“But I-”

“No ‘buts’.”

From the trees, the man in the green mask watched Garroth leave the premises, leaving Zenix and Brendan to work on the house. 

He waited for another twenty minutes, for the sky to grow even darker. Then, he carefully loaded his bow and aimed perfectly at his target.

“Die.”


	7. Trouble Around the Corner

The High Priest sat elegantly on his throne in thoughtful silence.. The evening had just started to take hold, and the lanterns were newly lit. He was completely alone.

Until a man dressed in a red Jury uniform materialized next to him.

“It would be wise of you to enter as one normally would,” The High Priest scowled.

“I often wonder what you are,” The red Juror hummed.

The High Priest gave an amused scoff. “I am but a simple man,” he wasn’t even looking at the Juror, but half heartedly studying a map on the table next to his throne.

“Simple?” He snorted. “Would a simple man have the Jury of Nine at his disposal? Would he be the heir to the throne of O’Khasis? You have more power than you realize,”

“And yet, it’s still not enough. You as a powerful warlock should know this, Ivan.”

The Red Juror gave a crude smirk. “I’ve heard the rumors the people of, shall I say, _ self-proclaimed _ kingdom of O’Khasis speak in whispers. They fear you. They respect you. But they feel you are running a fool’s errand looking for the power you seek.”

“Tell me then, do  _ you _ feel this errand to be a fool’s one?” The High Priest eyed him, a test of challenge.

“I’d be a fool to question your search for the relic, and a dead fool at that. Besides, as a warlock, I’ve seen the impossible before.” Ivan smirked.

“Tell me what you’ve uncovered,” The High Priest growled.

“My search of the south was met with the same results. The people only know of the Irene they praise.”

“It must be blissful to live in such ignorance.” The High Priest sneered.

“However, the Scholars of the Southern Tower seemed to know more than they let on. I came back because I was met with resistance. Seeing as the O’Khasisians seem to value their wisdom, I came to seek counsel from you.”

“Really, now?” He purred as he raised himself from his golden throne, “Perhaps a visit from The High Priest himself would persuade them to talk.”

☬

The stars had just started climbing into the sky as Donna escorted Aphmau back to her work-in-progress house.

“Hey, try not to fret about Visher.”

“How can I not? With everything that’s been going on, it’s just…”

“Truth be told, if anyone were to be frettin’ over Visher as deeply, it would be me. I’ve been his friend far too long. But, Visher isn’ the only friend I’ve lost. Aphmau, you may not remember your past, but you’ll realize this world you were born in… isn’t a kind one. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been scared to… let someone close to my heart.” Donna sighed. She abruptly shook her head. “Bah, I ramble. Just know a woman’s heart is a precious thing. Be careful of who you give it to.”

Just then, Dale appeared running around the corner of a nearby house.

“Donna! Lord Aphmau!” he panted.

“Oh no, Dale, please tell me you didn’t find my secret stash of ale,”

Dale continued panting. “Brendan got shot, he’s dead!”

Horror struck both of the women like lightning. Immediately, Aphmau grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close.

“Where is he?”

“Garroth has his body in the guard quarters.”

Aphmau and Donna started sprinting.

When they arrived, they saw Brendan spread out on a bed with a blood hole between his chest and shoulder, and a bloody arrow lying next to him, with Garroth and Zenix at his bedside.

“Zenix, get a hold of yourself, we need to remain calm!”

_ “I am calm!” _

Aphmau shoved Zenix aside to get to Brendan quicker.

_ “Brendan!” _

“Don’t touch him, he’s bleeding badly,” Garroth stressed.

“Wait, he’s alive?” Donna gasped.

“Barely,” Zenix clarified.

As Dale came up the stairs, Donna greeted him with a slap. 

“You said he was dead!”

“You told me you didn’t have a secret stash of ale!”

“Quit it, both of you!” Garroth barked. “Brendan needs help, he’s bleeding out fast!

“I know, I’ll use the fireplace to heat my sword, and we’ll burn the wound close! Be right back,” Zenix took off downstairs.

“How did this happen! You better be spellin’ out answers now! What about Brendan’s sister, does she know about this?!” 

“I don’t know, I-”

Donna and Garroth argued as Aphmau stood by Brendan, inspecting every inch of him. 

There was a bruise on his forehead.

Without thinking, she placed both of her hands over Brendan’s wound, and her markings began to glow. They grew brighter, until it felt as though her entire body had been struck by actual lightning and collapsed onto the ground.

☬

Aphmau woke up in a bed next to Brendan to hear shouting coming from downstairs. 

“Please, Please let me see my brother!”

“Please calm down, trust me when I say he’s stable, but if you go up there in a panic it may wake him. If he wakes, he’ll be in severe pain.”

“You ain’t wakin’ him. I’ve seen somethin’ like this before. He’s blacked out, seems to be in that state for a while. Which is strange, ‘cause I ain’t even known an arrow to cause someone to black out. Care to retell what happened?”

Zenix sighed. “Like I said, Brendan and I were finishing up taking down Lord Malik’s house, when suddenly I heard Brendan cry in pain. I looked over, and saw Brendan pierced with an arrow. I drew my sword and took stance, and saw a bandit cloaked in green fleeing the scene. I attempted to chase but instead, I flagged down Dale and Garroth.”

“So where’d that bruise come from?” Donna glared at him.

“How the hell should I know?” Zenix shrugged.

“The loss of blood probably caused Brendan to fall unconscious,” Garroth pointed out.

“What’s going to happen?” Kiki was still in tears, but had calmed down significantly.

“It seems like whatever magicks or…” Garroth cleared his throat, “Witchcraft… Lady Aphmau did stopped the bleeding for now, but Brendan is still in need of medical supplies,”

“What does he need? Tell me and I’ll get it!” Kiki said frantically.

“Your brother’s wound is the worst I’ve seen in a while,” Paul noted. “Not only that, it’s infected with some kind of poison it seems, it’s eating at his flesh,”

“You sure seem to know a lot about this stuff,” Zenix eyed Paul suspiciously.

“I sell medicines dealing with this. Long story short, you need a moon herb to aid something like this. I don’t know what kind of magick your Lady upstairs has, but as Garroth said, it only got us part of the way there. Worst case scenario, it only postponed the inevitable”

Aphmau jumped out of bed and attempted to heal Brendan again, but this time to no avail.

“Well give him the herb!” Kiki’s anxiety was slowly beginning to rise again. 

“I’m all out. No one in Phoenix Drop has one. I’ve already looked around to restock. However, I do have my boat ready at the docks to set sail for Bright Port in the morning. I was going to tell Visher’s wife about his… untimely passing. Someone has to.”

“But what does that have to do with-”

“Bright Port has a Doctor I am well acquainted with. I’m sure you’d find something there.”

“Then what are you waiting for? You should go there!”

“I said I’m going in the morning. I ain’t setting sail at night. Loading my wares would just be me asking for bandits to show me with an arrow.”

“B-but,” Kiki started to cry again. 

“Lady Kiki, as much as I understand your pain, I agree with Paul. We can’t risk anyone else to befall the same fate as Brendan.”

Aphmau didn’t hear the last part, mainly because she had already jumped out of the upstairs window and headed towards the docks.

When she arrived, she hurriedly started untying knots and preparing the sail. 

Until she heard a snap behind her. Aphmau spun around.

“You scared me,” She breathed.

Kiki stood silently before helping her with the rest of the ropes.

“Bright Port isn’t a long sail from here,” Kiki extended her arm to four o’clock. “Just keep going in that direction and you’ll reach it in less than two hours. Oh, and here,”

Kiki handed Aphmau a small satchel. In it was a small, slightly ragged stuffed bunny.

“I have a feeling this may come in handy to you since you’re going to Bright Port.”

“Do you want to come with me?”

“I want to, but I could never forgive myself if I knowingly left and my brother passed. Besides, you’ll need someone to cover for you.”

“I’ll hurry. I promise I won’t let him die.” Aphmau declared as she jumped into the boat and sailed away.

“Be safe!”

☬

Sasha had seen the ship depart from the docks. 

She weaved her way through the forest where she found Gene.

“Any sign of him?” He asked.

“No, though I’m sure he’ll be back. Something about this village has changed and he’s aware of it.”

“I grow tired of your suspicions, Sasha. I’m starting to think you have a weak spot for this village, seeing as it’s close to where you once called home.”

Sasha’s eyes bore into the dark grass.

“Remember what they did to you. Don’t obsess over this village.” He began to walk past her. “I’ll be seeing you around.”

“Where are  _ you _ going?” 

“I have a few things to tend to before I continue our search for the Lord’s wife and child. Do as you will, Sasha, but remember: we’ve still got a job to do.”

Sasha gazed at Gene’s ear as he left the area.

“Trust me, I intend to get to the bottom of this feeling.”

☬

Aphmau docked as the sky began to turn red in anticipation of the sun’s return.

She immediately noted the differences between Phoenix Drop and Bright Port. It was at least twice the size of Phoenix Drop, and the southern tip bordered on mountains. There were houses where their second stories would grow bigger than the first, and laundry lines exiting their windows, almost like walking through a tunnel. The roads were neatly packed cobblestones lined with a wood curb. There were a couple of small channels running through the village with small, bridge-like crosswalks to go over them. The trees had been dusted with snow, signaling a colder climate. Each house was painted a uniform cream color with roofs made out of skinned wood, rather than the bricks. The whole town was surrounded by a 15 foot wall made of cobblestones and wooden supports.

She could have spent all day running and awing about the town, but she had a job to do.

She wasn’t going to let anyone else die.


	8. The Shadow Knight

The older, drunken guard slammed his way through the door of the tavern, followed by a younger guard who was significantly more sober.

“Where are you going?” The younger one asked.

“To kill werewolves,” The older guard slurred, with ale still dripping onto his long beard. “What did ya think?”

The younger guard was a man with dark skin and even darker hair. “You’re going to to fight werewolves… by yourself,”

“Yes, by myself. Of course not! I’m goin’ on patrol! Azura’s been keepin’ me on a *hic* tight shift since the Lord went missing. It was probably those werewolves or some kinda monster like ‘em.”

“‘Monsters like them’? Do you really think something worse than werewolves exists?” The younger guard asked suspiciously.

“I forget, you’re just a boy new to this whole thing *hic*. Let me tell ya, there are far worse things than werewolves that’ll kill ya just by lookin’ at ‘em.”

The younger guards' fear began to rise.

“And… there’s one right behind ya!”

The guard yelped in terror and spun around, only to realize there was nothing behind him.

The older guard began laughing himself sober.

“That’s not funny. You shouldn’t joke about monsters like that. You never know when one’s listening,”

“What do I care if one’s listenin’. If one wanted to really get me, I’d be dead by now.”

“Still think it’s nothing to make fun of,” The younger guard quipped.

“The guard academy is right here in Bright Port. Trust me, we got nothin’ to worry about. Now go drink some more so you can grow a real beard or somethin’.” The older guard went down the tavern’s side alley, While the younger guard gave an exhausted sigh and went back into the tavern.

The older guard went down the alley until he heard a rustling noise. He ignored the first one.

Then it happened again.

The older guard drew his sword. When the sound didn’t go off again, he sighed. “The ale’s starting to catch up with me.”

Then it happened again, and he drew his sword back to attention.

“Alright, who’s there? Come out, werewolves, so I can cut your throats!”

A cat stumbled lazily out of a barrel.

The older guard glared at the cat. “The ale’s just got my mind tonight.”

He didn’t notice the dark cloaked figure behind him until it was too late.

He fell to the ground. “Mother of Irene, who are you?”

The figure’s eyes were brighter than blood. He raised his sword.

“The last monster you’ll ever see.”

☬

Aphmau had been asking around the town, for both the moon herb and the doctor.

Every single time, it seemed no one knew a thing or had flat out said no.

She approached a woman leaning against a cobblestone wall.

“Excuse me, do you have any moon herbs?”

“Ha, around these parts? Good luck. If you find any, sell it to me and I’ll buy for a good price.”

She had no idea what she was doing. Paul didn’t even give a name as to find the doctor by.

But she couldn’t give up. She wasn’t about to let Brendan die.

She approached another person.

“Excuse me, do you know where I can find a moon herb or a doctor with one?”

It was a man in his late thirties. He wore an old leather vest and a simple cotton shirt.

“I do.”

Aphmau lit up. “Can you tell me where he is?”

The man looked at her up and down. He contemplated for several moments before finally saying: “I can, but only if ye’ can help me with a fav’r.”

“It’s an emergency. I need it soon before…” She went quiet.

“I can get it to ye before ye do the fav’r I need, if it’s that important to yah,”

Aphmau nodded her head endlessly. “Then yes, anything.”

He nodded.

“Come with me,”

☬

Gene approached two guards outside of the tavern, dressed in the same uniform Bright Port armor as every other guard in the town.

“Evening. Might I ask about the werewolf tribe?”

One of the guards was leaning against a wooden pole, while the other sat casually on a crate. Neither of them could have been more than thirty five.

The guard leaning against the pole eyed him up and down. “Are you new to the guard academy?”

“Very.” Gene gave a fake nervous laugh. “I was just stationed at this academy from the one in O’Khasis,”

“Ah, an O’Khasis boy, eh?” The one on the crate gave a curious chuckle.

“How’s that lunatic High Priest doing?”

“Why should I care?” Gene shrugged.

“Last I heard, he was still continuing his vishon of somthin’ about Lady Irene,” the one on the crate said. He had a heavy accent. **(Scottish, if you’re wondering)**

“I mean, I know he’s got to ‘preach the word’ and all, but that guy comes off as nuts.”

“I’ll drink to that,” The one on the crate added.

Another guard came out of the tavern. He had solemn features and a militaristic haircut, despite seeming a year or two younger than the other two guards.

“It’s best you watch your tongue,”

“Do you not fear him?” Gene asked before the man could say anything more. 

“Us? Naahhh. He’s probably some royal wuss. Now Darth over here,” The man on the crate gestured to the man who had just joined the conversation, “He was stationed in O’Khasis, too. This guy won’t speak a bad word about ‘im.” Both the man on the crate and the man leaning against the pole broke out in drunk laughter.

The guard, Darth, quietly walked next to Gene’s side. 

“These fools don’t understand what the High Priest does to people, and it’s best you don’t ask about him outside of O’Khasis, less you want to face his wrath. You know what he is capable of. It’s only a matter of time before these two speak to the wrong person.”

The other two guards kept laughing, as though there wasn’t a serious thing in the world, until finally, the one on the crate said, “Anyway, you wanted to know about the werewolf tribe. What fur?”

“I hear they harbor one of the portals to… The Shadow Abyss.”

All the guards' faces drained of color.

“I also heard it recently broke,”

“You aren’t supposed to know that,” The one against the pole straightened in a hushed whisper.

“Tell me, how’d yah find that out? That’s classified information only certain guards know about,” The one on the crate leaned forward.

“ _ I’m _ one of those guards,”

The one on the crate scoffed, more at himself than Gene. “Alright, then you know about Shadow Knights, I’m assumin’, Those  _ things _ guards turn into if they kill their Lord,”

“I’m  _ sure _ there’s more to it than that,” Gene almost smirked.

“Well whatever the bloody hell they are, they sure aren’t human. One of our men saw a few of them emerge and fight the wolf tribe, and in order to prevent more of them from comin’ out, the werewolves had to break the portal.”

“What a shame. Any idea what’s going on with that?”

“They say the werewolves are trying to open it up again. Why: we don’t know.”

“Do you know what their progress is?” Gene interrogated.

“No, and why should we care?”

“Who knows, perhaps reassemble guards and attack them while they’re down.”

“Noooh, jast leave ‘em be. That’s their problem, we’ve got our own to deal with,”

“That’s all I needed to know,” Gene finished, and marched off without another thought.

“What an odd fellow. You know him?” The guard on the crate 

“I… don’t remember someone like him.” The O’khasian guard, Darth, mentioned.

“Eh. You O’khasis guards don’t remember much now, do you? You’re always so paranoid.”

☬

Aphmau was escorted to a quaint looking cottage close in the shopping district of the town. She walked into an L shaped room that looked like a small clinic, with several white beds positioned neatly in a row against each wall in the longer area, and a small medicinal workshop in the smaller.

Working in it, was a man approaching his sixties in a formal wool suit and a blue tie, busily studying something underneath a magnifier.

“Doc, Got someone for you.” the man escorting Aphmau said.

The doctor looked up from his research. 

“Please, I need your help. There’s a merchant, Paul, he said you could give me a moon herb for my friend, he’s terribly wounded and-”

“I have been informed of the situation, my dear.”

Confusion danced across her features, until she heard footsteps and a doorbell jingle.

“Heh, finally found you,” Paul grunted a small laugh. “I didn’t think I’d catch you after you stole my boat. I- is that a moon herb?” 

Everyone drew their attention to the doctor, who had a mistletoe-like herb hanging from a rack. 

“Paul, It’s good to see you.” the doctor breathed. “It is, I’ve had it for a while without giving it purpose.”

“Name your price for it.” Paul said flatly. “Her friend is gravely ill.

“You’ve been helpful to my business for many years, and I believe I still owe you for the ‘incident’ a few months ago. Take it, it’s yours.”

Paul seemed taken aback by his generosity, before covering it with a cough.

“Hang on,” the man who had escorted Aphmau here interjected. “This one here promised to help me with a job. How should I believe that ye are gonna return?”

“I promise I’ll return-” Aphmau started until Paul cut her off.

“I’ll take the herb back in time. You, meanwhile, will help this gentleman and fulfill your debt. That way, at least Brendan gets the care he needs faster.”

“You’d really do that? Even after I stole your-”

Paul laughed. “No sweat off my back. I understand why the deed was done. Doesn’t mean I’m happy about it, but I understand.”

“Thank you, Paul.”

“So, do we have a deal?” The man asked.

“Yes,” Aphmau shook his hand.

“Don’t worry about Brendan. We can handle it.” Paul said as the Doctor secured the herb in Paul's hand.

“Please take care of him,”

Paul nodded and went back to his boat, which left Aphmau and the man who escorted her here in the Doctor’s clinic together.

“Alright, ye follow me. Shan’t be a terribly difficult or long thing.”

☬

“You can't do this, you’re the High Priest,” 

The librarian had fallen back to the floor. The High Priest gazed down at her, with two O’Khasian guards in tow.

“Which is exactly why I’m doing it,” He replied coolly. “Someone in this world has to.”

The High Priest kneeled down to look her in the eye. The librarian wondered if he had ever kneeled in his life.

“Tell me what I want to know,”

The librarian let the fear on her face be replaced with firm defiance. “No.”

The High Priest closed his eyes. Well, at least one of them. The other was covered by a curtain of midnight black hair.

Wordlessly, he dragged the librarian to the balcony, and without the slightest bit of hesitance, dangled her off the highest part in the tower. The drop was sixty feet at the very least.

“This. Is your last. Chance. Tell us all you know of Irene. Surely you wish to live, don’t you?”

The librarian’s resolve began to crack. Her feet kicked helplessly at air, searching for some solid ground alternative to the one seventy feet below.

“Please, I only know what you know of her. We are still researching more-”

“Time is almost up,” The High Priest in an eerily sing-song voice.

“You’re insane,” The librarian breathed.

“Goodbye,”

“Wait!” The Librarian broke, “I-I know she had power. Something like witchcraft or magicks that had its-that had its limits!” The librarian had taken on a nervous laughing fit. “That’s all-That's all I know! I don’t know why she had limits, I just read about it and-”

“Useless,”

The High Priest let go of her collar. There was a scream, and a sickening _ thud _ .

He turned back, showing no signs of just having killed someone, and commanded his guards.

“Get Ivan to research the books we need. Then burn down the rest.”

Both guards saluted as he left down the stairs.

The High Priest walked out to the mountainside where the tower was built. 

“I left my throne for nothing,” He sighed.

“My apologies,” Ivan apparated behind him.

“Next time, you won’t be alive to apologize.” The High Priest snapped.

Ivan let a restrained grunt. “Understood.” he said as he went up into the tower.

The High Priest gazed into the autumn night sky.

“Lady Irene… What kind of power are you hiding from me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you may have noticed this is the first time I changed up a plot point entirely. I looked back through the original series and the Rebirth, and since the rebirth got cancelled right around this time (and I therefore have no idea where Jess was intending to take it) I decided to make a scene where Aph was able to get the herb and stay in Brightport, but she will still be able to go back to Phoenix Drop without going to the Wolf Tribe early.


	9. The Cellar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PSA The second half of this chapter lowkey sucks. I had no idea how to incorporate the cellar scene from the original series. Maybe someday I will actually rewrite it. Someday.

Garroth spotted a white sail on the horizon.

“Dale, the boat!” Garroth rushed from the beach to the dock.

“Don’t… talk about my wife like that~. She’s… just… thiiiiiiiick.”

 _“From the ocean, you idiot,”_ Garroth called back.

“Molly is not a whale you insensitive-”

Garroth stopped paying attention to him as Paul tied his sailboat to the dock.

“Where is Lady Aphmau?”

“She’s perfectly fine. She’s off in Bright Port.

“I _know_ she’s in Bright Port, but _why_ is she still in Bright Port? I thought you were going back to get her,”

Paul handed the moon herb to him without responding to his rant.

“Is that-”

“-The moon herb Brendan needs? Yes,”

“How is- Dale! Take this to Brendan!”

“You… got it!” Dale said as he tripped over sand.

“Ha! You think I’m trusting that drunken idiot to transport this safely? Do you realize how rare these are?”

“My apologies, I forgot. But please answer me: where is Lady Aphmau?”

“She managed to get this moon herb from a man she was doing trade with.” He grinned. “She’s doing him a ‘favour’ as payment.”

Garroth was furiously red underneath his helmet. He grabbed Paul by the collar and drew him in close.

 _“what_ **_KIND_ ** _of FAVOUR?”_ Garroth screeched.

Paul laughed. “See, this is what I mean when I say you have a stick up your ass. You jump to the worst conclusions. She’s just helping some old man with a house chore of his in return for helping her to the doctor’s place. That's it… unless…”

_“What do you mean?!”_

Paul laughed again. “Relax. She’s taking care of it.”

“Paul, you realize, you just left a woman with no memory out to fend for herself. She was just beginning to learn how to help take care of the village.I don’t think it’s safe to-”

“You worry too much. Sometimes I think you forget how the world works.”

“I _know_ how the world works.”

“Then you know she’s got to fend for herself.” Paul started walking down the dock to the small beach. “Let her do this on her own. If she comes back alive, then you know she’s worth that emotion you’re putting into her.”

“What emotion?” Garroth’s helmet snapped up.

“That worry you’ve got. Trust her like I do. Now come on, let’s get this moon herb to Brendan.”

“Do you think she’ll be alright?”

“Of course. She’s got a good head about her.”

☬

After a long and overly complicated plot that involved a farmhouse and staggering number of bees, Aphmau sailed home to Phoenix Drop with a dog in company.

It was a wolf-like dog with light grey fur and kind, happy eyes. It had been offered to her by the old man, saying that the dog was remarkably well-trained, but had no more use for him since he’d switched professions from sheep herder to sugarcane farmer, which left the dog sad with no more source of entertainment. The old man figured the dog would be much happier around someone constantly moving about. Aphmau agreed.

His name was Thorgi.

Aphmau’s ship docked, and she went to the house Brendan was being treated in. 

“Lady Aphmau!” Garroth’s armour clanked as he rushed in front of her. “Are you alright? Did your job in Bright Port go well? Is-” He looked down at Thorgi, happily wagging his tail as he trotted up next to her. “Is that a dog?”

Aphmau grinned and nodded. “Yes. His name is Thorgi. The man said I could keep him.”

“O-oh, I see.” Garroth kneeled down and gave the dog a few polite scratches.

“Can I see Brendan?” Aphmau kept looking behind Garroth into the small house, but she could barely see anything over Garroth’s giant figure. (Seriously, he’s like 6”8-6”10)

“Of course, however he’s still unconscious. He should be fine within the next week or so.” Garroth parted himself to let Aphmau have a glimpse of the room. Brendan slept on a bed towards the opposite end of the room, accompanied by Kiki, head propped against the wall and arm hanging from the chair she fell asleep on watching Brendan.

The rough wooden floor creaked under her feet as she approached him.

Zenix leaned casually against the wall left of her.

“I’m going to be upping my patrol after this. The bastard who shot him is going to wish he never crossed me,”

As he was talking, Aphmau noticed an odd shape in Brendan’s pocket. Zenix was too busy ranting to see Aphmau pull a silver key from it.

“Should I go find this guy?” Aphmau said as she transferred the key to her pocket.

“No. You’re too inexperienced to take someone on in combat.” He sneered, however she could barely hear him mumble under his breath “-not letting anyone else get hurt.”

Aphmau nodded. “You said you were at the old Lord’s house?”

“Uh… Yeah.”

Aphmau headed towards the door before Garroth stopped her. “Zenix told me everything about the event. Tomorrow, he and I will head west to find the criminal. I only hope to make whoever is responsible brought to justice.”

“Let me go with you,” Aphmau offered.

“No, please, I beg of you. Your help here in the village has been more than invaluable. It’s my job to protect the people of this village and that’s what I aim to do.It would hurt my honor as a guard if something happened to you. Plus, who would I leave the village in capable hands while I’m gone?”

Aphmau pursed her lips and looked down.

“If you wish to do something to help, Lady Aphmau, could I ask you to stop by the marketplace and deliver these papers to Logan? I’ve been so tied up with Brendan lately that I haven’t been able to.”

Aphmau immediately perked up and nodded. She bid Garroth goodbye and grabbed the papers.

The marketplace was less empty with Logan there, and it seemed that while she’d been gone Kiki had moved her pen of animals near Logan’s stall. Aphmau could only imagine what his reaction to that must’ve been. 

“Hi Logan, it’s good to see you.”

“Are the rumors true? Has this place been attacked by bandits? One of the ladies at the local brothel said it was attacked by bandits shooting arrows. I’m not sure I should set up-”

“We don’t have a… a mistress house!” Aphmau stuttered.

“Are you sure? That house across the farm seems like one to me. Either way, I’m not selling anything until the gentleman who was attacked tells me otherwise.”

Aphmau scoffed. “Fine. Here are your papers Garroth wanted to give you. Good day.” Aphmau patted them on the table stand and walked away.

With that out of the way, Aphmau’s next order of business was to go to the old Lord’s house. After navigating her way through the surrounding forestry, she discovered the house had entirely knocked out the second floor, and only the stone foundation remained. However, as she stood in the middle of the house’s destruction, a staircase descending into the foundation had appeared in the corner. Whether Brendan and Zenix made it or if she had simply not noticed it before, she wasn’t sure.

She was stopped at the bottom of the stairs by an iron door.

 _This must be what the key is for_ , she thought.

Sure enough, the key fit perfectly. Aphmau found herself more fascinated than concerned as she entered a room built out of some type of black stone. A desk with an open notebook was the sole furniture of the room. 

Naturally, She began reading.

My name is Malik. If you’re reading this, then it means I’m gone. I don’t know what ‘gone’ means yet. I might be dead or I might be rotting in a cellar. I was the Lord of this village. I named it Phoenix drop.

I only hope that the new Lord takes into account the feelings of the local villagers, something I lacked in for many years before it was too late to realize. Though it’s quite possible they won’t even remember me.

I leave my journal on my desk for the convenience of anyone to find. Just know that if you take responsibility for this village, The King will come after you, like he did me. He’ll send his knights of shadow to get you first. Then

_Something is going on upstairs-_

The pen scratched off the rest of the book as if left in a panic.

Aphmau wasn’t entirely sure how to process what she had just read. She looked around the room for any clarifying detail, but there was nothing but black stone.

Thorgi gave her a confused look.

“Same here, bud.”

With nothing else to go on, Aphmau went back to her house on the hill.

It was pretty much finished at this point, albeit very small. The house itself was only one room, made entirely out of wood. There was a midwall in the back of the room, one side having a bed and desk against it, and the otherside hid the staircase to go down into the large cellar room that doubled as a storage room.

There was also a small food bowl for Sean Connery, as well as Sean Connery himself.

The shadows of night began to creep into the room, even with the torches lit. 

And there was nothing else she could do, when sleep befell her, except for ignore the dark implications of what she had discovered.


	10. Population Boom

It was the middle of the night. Sasha hadn’t told Gene where she was going. Sasha didn’t even know where she was going. The past few days, frustration had been grasping the edges of her mind.

_ Dangerous, _ she thought,  _ Dangerous and stupid, those fickle emotions are, _

She needed to do something to purge them. Something that would allow her to return to the kind emptiness in her mind.

The house on the hill seemed like a convenient victim. However, in the moonlight, there was another thing that caught her eye. 

A tiny little ball scurrying around.

Upon closer inspection, the ball grew legs and ears with each step Sasha took towards it until she realized it was a hamster. 

She glared at the tiny creature, and raised her foot over it.

The sole of her shoe was brushing the hamsters head when a different idea entered her head. 

“Looks like I’ll let you live a bit longer,” Sasha pulled a small round bottle out of her pocket, and dumped the contents of it onto the small creature. 

The hamster tried to shake off the strange, glittery liquid, and by that point Sasha already had one foot back into the forest.

☬

Aphmau had awoken just before dawn. With the dirt paths untouched by human footprints, she made her way to the farm plot towards the edge of the village. 

_ I can do this, _ she thought. _ I just have to keep trying, _

She was in the small plot she had yet to finish healing. Brendan had already worked on the bits she had salvaged, and tiny little sprouts began to pop up and greet her.

She stepped in the area that gave her the most radius to heal. 

She placed her hand to the ground, and waited. 

And waited.

She didn’t feel an ounce of the fluttery, jerking sensations she had felt before.

_ How am I going to heal the other plots if I can’t even heal half of one? _ She pondered bitterly.

She felt a strong jerking sensation, causing her to knock her head into the dirt. Light came from her hand, and seeped into the ground, and a ring of light starting from her hand grew like an expanding ripple through the village.

Aphmau blacked out.

When she woke, the first thing that hit her was the smell of mushroom soup.

The second thing was Donna.

“That was a stupid move, Aphmau. You remember what Visher told you about your… abilities.”

Aphmau looked down groggily. “I’m sorry.”

“Someone coulda seen you. I went out to see how the crops were doin’, and instead, I find you face down in a farm plot and that the whole village, from the hill you built your house on to the front towards the fences, is suddenly no longer dead **.** ”

Aphmau couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “The whole village?”

Donna nodded. “You can’t use that power of yours anymore.”

“Why not?”

“Because!” Donna slammed the pot on her counter. “Look at your hands,”

Aphmau’s eyes fell down.

The palms of her hands were cracked and dry. The lower parts of her fingers had calloused, with sharp blisters on top. 

“Whatever that magick is, it hurt you. You overexerted yourself. And I don’t want to lose anyone else around here. I’m getting damn tired of tragedy.” She declared while handing her the soup. 

“I’ll see if Logan has somethin’ for your hands. Other than that, I want you to take it easy for a while. Lie back down and drink your stew. If you need something, one of the other gals here can help you. Just give them a shout.”

Donna left the room, leaving Aphmau alone with her thoughts. 

There was something different about what she did. The past two times she had healed the crops, it was just a strong fluttering sensation and grogginess afterwards.

This time, when she reached into the dirt, something in her changed. The fluttering hadn’t been as strong, but the jerking sensation made her look and feel as though she were about to vomit. Not to mention the exhaustion fell much heavier on her than before. 

She attempted to grab the soup bowl, but the moment she touched it, her sensitive hands seared with pain from the temperature. Letting out a small yelp, she pulled back and blew cool streams of air on them.

She scrunched her face at the bowl, as if it would have made the bowl a feeling of guilt. 

She fell dramatically back onto the bed.

It was going to be a long day.

☬

Donna returned back later with a bottle of some lotion from Logan, who was strangely kind enough to give a discount for Donna. 

“Here you go, darlin’. This should fix you right up.”

The relief was immediate and satisfying. The white cream did well to erase the heat, leaving a pleasant cooling sensation.

“Oh, Donna, thank you so much.”

‘You rest easy now. Don’t want you doin’ anythin’ else that might hurt you beyond repair.

Aphmau nodded mindlessly, still basking in the effects of the nice-smelling lotion.

“Also, Garroth and Zenix left earlier to go find the bandit that shot Brendan. My guess is that’ll take them at least a day, if they actually catch them. There’s a high chance that they won’t.”

Aphmau finally picked up her bowl of soup, the swirling brown reflection stared back at her.

“But hey, don’t fret your little head about. Find them or not, Garroth and Zenix will both return.”

Aphmau nodded. She wouldn’t allow herself to believe any other possibility.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Donna’s stance transformed into something apprehensive. “Though I don’t want you to get too riled up or nothin’.”

Aphmau raised her eyebrows.

“Went I went to the market, there were a bunch of villagers there that I didn’t recognize. From what I’ve heard from Logan, I think Phoenix drop is goin’ to grow quite a bit. These villagers came from just a couple miles north of here. Their town was in an even worse state than we were. They heard through the grapevine that a new merchant had come to Phoenix Drop, and decided it would be best to move here in search of greener pastures.”

Aphmau jumped out of bed, “How many?”

“I’d reckon about ten or so.”

“Why did you wait until now? I’m the Lord! I should go and greet them!”

Phoenix Drop was much smaller than most villages. In all her time in Phoenix Drop, she’d only seen around thirty-five people, her friends among them.

“Calm down, Aph. You don’t need to worry about them for now. Logan’s helpin’ them get settled and is holdin’ the money from people buyin’ houses,”

Aphmau hopped on one foot while tying her boots. Before Donna could stop her, she was running down the road, leaving the wood door ajar.

Sure enough, the marketplace held a small group of people standing and talking in a group, surrounding Logan.

“Well, if it isn't  _ Lord _ Aphmau,” Logan crossed his arms.

Several eyes from the group fell on her. 

“You’re the Lord?” Several people echoed. 

Aphmau nodded nervously.

The look on the new villagers’ faces together morphed from confusion to impressed to relief. Aphmau could only guess that the feeling of relief was derived from her appearance. The villagers likely expected a Lord somewhere between lazy glutton and murderous madman.

She went about greeting the villagers in a small group and gathered what information Donna hadn’t told her. Their story was identical to Phoenix Drop’s. Their Lord had mysteriously disappeared and the farm plots were barren. The people, upon learning that Phoenix Drop had gained a stable merchant, started migrating in hopes of better odds.

Aphmau even met a couple with their son, a one year old named Kyle.

“I’m a miner an’ a mason,” the father, a man with long wood brown hair and beard named Corey stated. “And my Emma here can make the nicest pair of boots in Ru’aun.” He gestured to his wife, a lovely woman with pale, sun bleached hair and a forest green dress made out of simple fabrics. Aphmau believed him, because even though their clothing was quaint at best, both wore incredibly nice shoes.

“I’ll be willin’ to start work right away once we’re settled in. You all got a mine?”

Surprisingly, They actually did. Aphmau pointed to the opposite side of the marketplace. 

“We have a small one, but I think it will suffice.” Aphmau tried to talk to him the way Garroth would. 

Corey nodded and rejoined the group.

She didn’t realize it, but she was smiling.

☬

Over the course of the day, more and more people arrived at the gates of Phoenix Drop, all arriving from the same village. By four in the afternoon, it seemed the village’s population had doubled, possibly tripled.

Aphmau had attempted to become at least acquainted with most, if not all, of the migrant villagers. She decided she had done enough, until one last person caught her eye. 

She was no older than thirty-five. Her sunny gold hair was slightly covered by a wreath of leaves decorating her head. A green crocheted shawl rested over her brown tunic. Her most striking feature, however, were her ears. The tips of which were several centimeters longer than usual and had sharp points.

The woman spoke first. “Hi! My name is Zoey. You're the Lord, right?”

Aphmau nodded, trying not to stare at her ears. 

“I’m an elf that used to live in the village that everyone is moving from. There’s no business there anymore so I figured it best to come with the crowd.”

“Oh no, I’m so sorry,” Aphmau began to apologize.

“Don’t even worry about it. To be honest, I prefer it this way. It’s not so often the villagers hear of a prosperous village and immediately migrate. People will begin to make their lives better.”

Aphmau kept nodding along, however she was still mostly focused on the woman’s ears. She remembered Garroth and Donna talking about the rarity of magic beings. Perhaps elves were considered common, and performed no magic. Or they did, but no one considered it magic. Aphmau wasn’t sure if any of the theories running in her head were true.

“Anyways, I sell decorations. It’s always been a hobby of mine to make these. They’re not cheap though, since they  _ are _ infused with fairy magick. 

_ There goes half my theories _ , Aphmau thought.

“Would you like to buy some?”

“Uh sure,” her mouth responded before her mind.

The elf woman, Zoey, presented her with a small crate filled with long, woven string. Attached to the string were medium sized glass orbs that contained tiny balls of yellow light.

Aphmau forgot all about the woman’s magical origin and became mesmerized by the beautiful glow.

Aphmau only had enough for one string, but she didn’t care. The giddiness she felt was almost child-like.

Before she got the chance to hang them up, however, Kiki interrupted her.

“Good evening, Aphmau. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you, but I took Sean Connery out of your house because, well…”

Aphmau glanced behind Kiki and Nearly dropped the rope of lights.

Inside of the pen was a hamster almost twice the size of Thorgi.

“I took him out of there before he got any bigger and put him in here for the time being. I have no idea what could have turned him into something like this. I did it because I didn’t want him becoming too big for your house. I can take him back if it’s your best interest.

Besides! I’ve brought a few hamsters from a local village to be his friends, at least until someone adopts them. I’m sure someone will seeing as so many people have decided to make Phoenix Drop their new home, kekekeke~”

“I wonder what it tastes like. I’m sure people would pay a fortune for exotic meats,” Logan added.

“ _ YOU BETTER NOT EAT MY HAMSTER! _ ” Kiki shouted. 

Aphmau backed out of the conversation before it worsened.

She decided, for lack of a more productive task, to go check on Brendan.

The one-room house Brendan had been relocated to sat empty of both life and furniture, save for the single rickety bed Brendan slept on and a nearby chair, where Cuddlezilla sat diligently watching.

Brendan’s eyes fluttered open.

“Uhh… My head…”

“Brendan!” Aphmau jumped and ran the remaining distance between them. 

“Ugh, I don’t feel so well. What happened?”

“Stay calm, you were shot with an arrow in the chest.” Her voice wavered.

“I was? Ow… now I feel it. I also feel sleepy… wait, I remember… Zenix and I were getting ready to leave and then… Zenix pulled me in front of him and that’s… the last thing I remember. I’m sorry, Lord Aphmau, but I need to sle…” 

The rest of that word was lost as darkness claimed him.

Thorgi sniffed at Brendan’s feet.

_ I vaguely remember a slightly different account of the event, but… maybe he’s just a bit delusional _ .

Nevertheless, Aphmau was still put into a much better mood after finally seeing Brendan awake.

She spent the rest of the afternoon working about the village. Planting and sowing crops in the newly revived land (however, she noticed that the land wasn’t near as good as the first plot she had healed), herded some escaped sheep and several goats, bought a _ second _ string of fairy lights, and used them to decorate the marketplace.

The sun was only a finger’s width from the horizon when Aphmau decided to return home, feeling positive and sincerely satisfied.

Until she saw him. 

The man she had only seen once. The man she had seen running through the forest when she awoke and chased after him. As far as Aphmau was concerned, he was the first person she had ever seen in her life.

The man who wore a green mask.

“Wait, you, who are-”

She noticed the man carrying someone against his shoulder.

Upon noticing her, The man dropped the unconscious person to the ground.

Aphmau heard the sound of clanking metal before she realized who it was.

“Garroth?” Her voice rose. There was no response. 

“ _ Garroth! _ ”


	11. Back to Brightport

The boy reappeared less than ten minutes later.

“Sorry about that. My Ma won’t let me leave the house since Pops…” The boy shook his head, as if it could shake the thought out of his mind. 

“Anyway, sorry it’s taking so long to get in touch with Lowell’s Pop. I thought they would’ve been here a while ago, but something might’ve happened. I’m sure they’ll arrive soon. If not, you might have to go look for them.”

“Who’s Lowell?” Aphmau blinked.

“The wolf puppy you’re carrying.”

“Where should I meet his parents?”

“You can probably meet them close to the docks at midnight. Be careful when you approach them, though, they’re not very happy with the villagers here, and tend to attack anyone that isn’t me or my mom.” John warned. 

“Why don’t they attack you?” Aphmau questioned.

The boy’s eyes widened,but quickly averted his gaze as he gave a nervous laugh. “It’s… a long story, and I don’t want to tell it right now. Nevermind. I think you should just hang around here for a bit, since the sun only just set.”

“Wait, wait,” Aphmau backtracked. “Aren’t you going to give me some information about the missing Lord?” She had nearly forgotten the whole reason she was there.

“That’s right, I almost forgot. I just got so excited I-” he shook his head again, searching for some semblance of focus. “You’ll need to talk to Lowell’s parents about the missing Lord.”

“Did they take him?”

“What? No! Why does everyone think the werewolves are the bad guys? Just trust me, and don’t judge them by how they loo-” 

The boy's curly head of blonde hair twisted around to an unknown sound.

“My mom’s calling me. Just tell them John sent you. G’bye, and… thank you.”

The windows slammed shut.

☬

“Did you find out anything?” Azura asked. 

“Yes, but I’ll have to do some more digging, first.” 

Azura had caught Aphmau completely off guard, as she was walking around, trying to find some way to occupy her time while she waited for midnight. 

“That’s wonderful! Tell me everything,”

Aphmau’s recent discoveries danced in her mind, teetering between telling the truth and sparing Lowell.

“I… found a footprint,”

“A footprint? Interesting. If you don’t mind my asking, where was it, exactly? I’d like to go investigate it immediately.”

“At the hunter’s house.”

“At Omar’s house? Omar the Hunter? Well, it’s his house. I don’t know why there wouldn’t be any footprints. Unless you mean a werewolf footprint, he’s been hunting those bastards for the town. I have a feeling they took the Lord, but I have no proof. Regardless, they’ve taken people from us before, even though I thought there was a treaty between…  _ ugh _ . Nevermind. I’m not overly into politics. In any case, I’ll go and investigate Omar. He might know something. Thank you.”

“Have you heard anything about Garroth?” Aphmau figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

“No,” Azura sighed. “I sent a raven to your village to bring back word, though. I’ll inform you of any news that comes to pass.”

There was a small pause, before Azura said in a softer, more contemplative voice,

“I care for him. A lot.”

Aphmau raised a brow.

“We attended the same guard academy. However, when we were assigned to our village Lord’s we were split up. I... I was hoping to stay by his side as an apprentice, but my skills far outranked that of a novice.”

A small ding went off in the back of her head.

“Do you know anything about Zenix?”

“Zenix? You must mean Garroth’s apprentice. Most guards take one on at some point. I don’t know much around him, in fact, nor does Garroth. From what I remember, Garroth found Zenix in a very bad state, beaten and badly wounded. He took him in and gave him shelter, and from then on he pledged himself to Garroth. That’s all I know.”

It was surprising, hearing about a side of Zenix she had yet to witness. 

“Alright, Thanks. I’ll keep a lookout for the Lord.”

“Take care, Aphmau. Don’t get yourself hurt. 

☬

With the moon high and full, Aphmau travelled past the walls of the village, and beyond their outskirts into a small valley, partially eclipsed by the cascading mountains that surrounded the area. 

Aphmau hadn’t been sure what she was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t what awaited her. 

Three hulking beasts, coated in brown fur, each with piercing red eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness. Unlike the pup, Their limbs were jutted and angular, The only human-reminiscent quality about them was their ability to stand on two legs, each of them at least six feet tall. The largest could easily tower over Garroth, who himself was nearly seven feet. 

Despite this, Aphmau squared her shoulders and walked towards them.

“Hi, I-uh, I have you pup here.” She unbuttoned the pouch and placed the small creature on the ground. “He’s fine, but I need to ask you a few questions-”

There was no warning before the largest wolf started to attack. 

Aphmau barely had time to jump from the first attack, and the second seemed to come even quicker. She felt heat rise to her jaw, liquid thicker than sweat began to drip down her chin. 

“Stop, please!” she cried. She would not fight them. She outright refused. The werewolf paid her no heed as he picked her up with the same amount of difficulty as picking up a twig, and threw her several feet back. 

“Now, you die.” A guttural voice came from the werewolf. 

There was nowhere for Aphmau to run. The wolf was too fast. But if she was going to die, she was going to die on her feet. 

She stood, clutching the wound on her face. The wolf raised his claw to strike her down again. But the wolf’s hand never fell.

“That scent,”

“What the hell are you talking about?  _ Weren’t you just trying to kill me? _ ” Aphmau spat.

“Stand down, human. That scent…are you… do you have a doll with you?”

Aphmau’s eyes widened. She pulled out the old bunny doll Kiki had given her. 

“Kiki? You don’t look like Kiki, who are you and why do you have her doll?”

Aphmau straightened her back and held the werewolf’s gaze. She explained the Kiki was her friend, and she had given her the doll.

“I see… Kiki gave this to you. When I was little more than a pup, she saved my life and gave this doll. I gave it back to her when I…” The werewolf shook his ginormous head. “Human, thank you for returning our pup. It is not often we find humans as kind as you and Kiki. 

Aphmau pushed back several biting comments. She still had a job. 

“What about the Lord?”

“The Lord of Bright Port? We know where he is, but we did not take him. If you promise not to swallow our home, we can help you.” The Alpha wolf said.

“I promise.” Aphmau said with no hesitation.

“Good. Follow us then. We’ll explain everything to you at the place we call home.”


	12. Alpha Wolf

The boy reappeared less than ten minutes later.

“Sorry about that. My Ma won’t let me leave the house since Pops…” The boy shook his head, as if it could shake the thought out of his mind. 

“Anyway, sorry it’s taking so long to get in touch with Lowell’s Pop. I thought they would’ve been here a while ago, but something might’ve happened. I’m sure they’ll arrive soon. If not, you might have to go look for them.”

“Who’s Lowell?” Aphmau blinked.

“The wolf puppy you’re carrying.”

“Where should I meet his parents?”

“You can probably meet them close to the docks at midnight. Be careful when you approach them, though, they’re not very happy with the villagers here, and tend to attack anyone that isn’t me or my mom.” John warned. 

“Why don’t they attack you?” Aphmau questioned.

The boy’s eyes widened,but quickly averted his gaze as he gave a nervous laugh. “It’s… a long story, and I don’t want to tell it right now. Nevermind. I think you should just hang around here for a bit, since the sun only just set.”

“Wait, wait,” Aphmau backtracked. “Aren’t you going to give me some information about the missing Lord?” She had nearly forgotten the whole reason she was there.

“That’s right, I almost forgot. I just got so excited I-” he shook his head again, searching for some semblance of focus. “You’ll need to talk to Lowell’s parents about the missing Lord.”

“Did they take him?”

“What? No! Why does everyone think the werewolves are the bad guys? Just trust me, and don’t judge them by how they loo-” 

The boy's curly head of blonde hair twisted around to an unknown sound.

“My mom’s calling me. Just tell them John sent you. G’bye, and… thank you.”

The windows slammed shut.

☬

“Did you find out anything?” Azura asked. 

“Yes, but I’ll have to do some more digging, first.” 

Azura had caught Aphmau completely off guard, as she was walking around, trying to find some way to occupy her time while she waited for midnight. 

“That’s wonderful! Tell me everything,”

Aphmau’s recent discoveries danced in her mind, teetering between telling the truth and sparing Lowell.

“I… found a footprint,”

“A footprint? Interesting. If you don’t mind my asking, where was it, exactly? I’d like to go investigate it immediately.”

“At the hunter’s house.”

“At Omar’s house? Omar the Hunter? Well, it’s his house. I don’t know why there wouldn’t be any footprints. Unless you mean a werewolf footprint, he’s been hunting those bastards for the town. I have a feeling they took the Lord, but I have no proof. Regardless, they’ve taken people from us before, even though I thought there was a treaty between…  _ ugh _ . Nevermind. I’m not overly into politics. In any case, I’ll go and investigate Omar. He might know something. Thank you.”

“Have you heard anything about Garroth?” Aphmau figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

“No,” Azura sighed. “I sent a raven to your village to bring back word, though. I’ll inform you of any news that comes to pass.”

There was a small pause, before Azura said in a softer, more contemplative voice,

“I care for him. A lot.”

Aphmau raised a brow.

“We attended the same guard academy. However, when we were assigned to our village Lord’s we were split up. I... I was hoping to stay by his side as an apprentice, but my skills far outranked that of a novice.”

A small ding went off in the back of her head.

“Do you know anything about Zenix?”

“Zenix? You must mean Garroth’s apprentice. Most guards take one on at some point. I don’t know much around him, in fact, nor does Garroth. From what I remember, Garroth found Zenix in a very bad state, beaten and badly wounded. He took him in and gave him shelter, and from then on he pledged himself to Garroth. That’s all I know.”

It was surprising, hearing about a side of Zenix she had yet to witness. 

“Alright, Thanks. I’ll keep a lookout for the Lord.”

“Take care, Aphmau. Don’t get yourself hurt. 

☬

With the moon high and full, Aphmau travelled past the walls of the village, and beyond their outskirts into a small valley, partially eclipsed by the cascading mountains that surrounded the area. 

Aphmau hadn’t been sure what she was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t what awaited her. 

Three hulking beasts, coated in brown fur, each with piercing red eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness. Unlike the pup, Their limbs were jutted and angular, The only human-reminiscent quality about them was their ability to stand on two legs, each of them at least six feet tall. The largest could easily tower over Garroth, who himself was nearly seven feet. 

Despite this, Aphmau squared her shoulders and walked towards them.

“Hi, I-uh, I have you pup here.” She unbuttoned the pouch and placed the small creature on the ground. “He’s fine, but I need to ask you a few questions-”

There was no warning before the largest wolf started to attack. 

Aphmau barely had time to jump from the first attack, and the second seemed to come even quicker. She felt heat rise to her jaw, liquid thicker than sweat began to drip down her chin. 

“Stop, please!” she cried. She would not fight them. She outright refused. The werewolf paid her no heed as he picked her up with the same amount of difficulty as picking up a twig, and threw her several feet back. 

“Now, you die.” A guttural voice came from the werewolf. 

There was nowhere for Aphmau to run. The wolf was too fast. But if she was going to die, she was going to die on her feet. 

She stood, clutching the wound on her face. The wolf raised his claw to strike her down again. But the wolf’s hand never fell.

“That scent,”

“What the hell are you talking about?  _ Weren’t you just trying to kill me? _ ” Aphmau spat.

“Stand down, human. That scent…are you… do you have a doll with you?”

Aphmau’s eyes widened. She pulled out the old bunny doll Kiki had given her. 

“Kiki? You don’t look like Kiki, who are you and why do you have her doll?”

Aphmau straightened her back and held the werewolf’s gaze. She explained the Kiki was her friend, and she had given her the doll.

“I see… Kiki gave this to you. When I was little more than a pup, she saved my life and gave this doll. I gave it back to her when I…” The werewolf shook his ginormous head. “Human, thank you for returning our pup. It is not often we find humans as kind as you and Kiki. 

Aphmau pushed back several biting comments. She still had a job. 

“What about the Lord?”

“The Lord of Bright Port? We know where he is, but we did not take him. If you promise not to swallow our home, we can help you.” The Alpha wolf said.

“I promise.” Aphmau said with no hesitation.

“Good. Follow us then. We’ll explain everything to you at the place we call home.”


	13. Home of the Tribe

The man with the green mask watched as Aphmau walked with the three werewolves and pup to their tribal land. Of course, she didn’t know that. They had trekked through the mixed terrains of valley and mountains for nearly two hours. The group had maintained a formal silence as she was led to the werewolves’ tribe. Luckily, one of the wolves had picked certain leaves off a nearby plant, which helped stop the bleeding coming from her jaw.

After what seemed like an eternity, she began to see the grass glow from torchlight.

The tribe was incredibly small, and lied between the edge of a small cliff that overlooked a large, green valley littered occasionally with young trees and small hills that worked as a natural wall against the elements. There were only around five huts in total, that sparsely surrounded a huge firepit. The tiny homes appeared to be crafted from wooden logs and tightly packed hay, with none of them possessing doors or even a curtain to separate the inside from the elements, except for one, slightly bigger hut that was closest to a decorated cave that went into the side of a hill. 

She was led inside the cave, where she sat on the cold stone floor in front of a smaller firepit. The Alpha wolf sat on the opposing side.

“I apologize for my behavior before. Anger… has always been our people’s weakness. Be it our animal instincts or a trait inherited from our ancestors, we are weak at the hands of rage.”

Aphmau shrugged. “I’m not dead, so I guess we’re fine.”

“Your humour makes me laugh.” He made a sound that did not exactly sound like a laugh. Aphmau giggled herself in return.

“Aphmau, is it? Thank you for bringing home Lowell. He is one of the last two pure-blooded werewolf pups. He… means a lot to our kind.”

“What does that mean, exactly?” Aphmau cocked her head.

“Pure blood means that he does not come from humans. He was born from two natural born werewolves. The rest of our tribe were bitten, and welcomed to call our people home when they were exiled from their villages for what they had become.”

“That’s terrible,”

“It’s life. I can’t say our own people are pure of heart either. We’ve had our moments in history. But enough of that-- we’re different now and only use our arms for those who have wronged us, and your “Bright Port” has not taken only one, but _two_ of our kind.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Aphmau was even more confused now. 

“Our brother, Visher… was brutally murdered and his body was buried outside of town. We picked up his scent and gave him a proper burial.”

“Visher..? _Visher was a werewolf?_ ” Aphmau nearly shrieked.

“Yes. He married a human woman who accepted him for himself and his altered form. His son, John, doesn’t show any signs of turning, but he smells of our kind, and he is always welcome here despite his human appearance. Regardless, Vishered was murdered by his own man. We aim to avenge him, we came to the village to find the murderer but we haven’t picked up a thing.”

Aphmau took a long, drawn out sigh, and told the Alpha everything she knew about what happened to Visher.

“Visher… was killed… in _your_ village?” The Alpha took a long pause. “It seems I have made a grave mistake. I should have listened to the Lord of Bright Port.”

“Wait, where is he?” Aphmau wasn’t sure how many times she had asked the question at this point.

“The Lord of Bright Port. He is a kind man, a man of great healing magic… and brave stupidity.”

“Huh?”

“A few days ago we sought to take our vengeance on Bright Port, not only for what they did to Visher but for the unfair treatment we have endured all these years. Even though we currently have a treaty between our tribe and the village, they would slaughter our kind for food and clothes and sometimes pure pleasure-- we wished to make them pay. We used dark magic to erect a structure known as a nether portal in order to summon demons from the depths of Hell, foolishly thinking we could control them. As we did this the Lord of Bright Port interrupted our ceremony and attempted to explain what had happened. We didn’t believe him.”

Aphmau was afraid to ask. “Then what happened?”

“Then, our one pure female werewolf pup, Kiva, was taken by a demon that emerged from the Nether. The Lord jumped after her, but the creature had destroyed some of the portal as he left, causing it to close. A chunk of the obsidian broke off, and we have yet to reconstruct it out of fear.”

“Leave it to me, I’ll fix it and save them.”

The Alpha’s head shot up. 

“You..? You would be so kind as to do that? You know both the Lord and Kiva might be dead.”

“It’s what I do. I want to help.”

The Alpha was silent a moment longer. 

“Your kindness will not go unrewarded. Inside the cave you’ll find the supplies you need. Please, take what you need and bring them both back safely. If you do this I’ll be sure to make peace with the village. For now.”

☬

As Aphmau collected her supplies, a smaller werewolf approached her from behind. 

“I am Khira. My husband is the Alpha wolf. His name is Bodolf. He tells me… He tells me… He tells me you know of Kiki, an amazing woman for a human. 

“How does he know her?”

“Long ago… Long ago when Bodolf was a pup he was going to be slaughtered by hunters. Kiki then… Kiki then… Kiki then saved him by releasing him from trap. But she paid great price and was hurt by the hunters who she freed Boldolf from. Bodolf saved her in return. But they… but they… but they did not escape without wounds. Bodolf brought Kiki here and we helped her back to health.”

“What happened next?”

“She then gave… she then gave… she then lived among us and learned our ways, she became one with nature with us and great friends with Bodolf. She was but a child then and her family missed their human cub, we took her back and she left with Bodolf the rabbit toy she carried with her. Bodolf returned it as he could not be attached to sentimental items as he would become the Alpha one day.”

“Should… Should I give it back?” Aphmau questioned.

“I should say… I should say… I should say no. He is the Alpha, he cannot be seen with it. But it is good you have it. Maybe you can do something with it later and it could help someone else. But right now… right now… right now focus on what you are here to do. You will save our youngest female. Prepare and go.” 

☬

The sky grew and had begun to rain, as Aphmau walked into the cave opposite to where she had spoken with the Alpha. The entrance was much less grand, almost as if it were trying to go unnoticed. It was just slightly narrower than the other, until she turned the corner.

The inside was quite beautiful. Despite the lack of sunlight, flowered vines grew in lines across the cave’s walls. Water seemed to spout from a fist size hole on each side of the cave, making natural fountains that went around the whole perimeter of the cave, which was barely the size of her one-room house back in Phoenix Drop.

However, the most unique feature of this room was the broken arch of obsidian that laid in the center of it, that rested atop strange, brown sand that seemed to shift on its own, despite no one standing upon it. 

Aphmau was so enchanted by the portal that she didn’t notice another wolf in the room with her at first. This wolf looked different compared to the other werewolves she had met. For one, this wolf stood on all fours, but still large enough to look her in the eye. Their fur was also a mix of grey and white, opposed to the range of browns almost every other werewolf she had seen in the village possessed.

“This shrine used to be sacred, where many flowers would bloom. Now this place is filled with sorrow, the flowers don’t bloom for us. We attempted to taint the lands with our rage… our weakness. When you are ready, human, place the obsidian missing spots and light the fire in the arch. We do not know what awaits you inside. Be prepared.”

Aphmau nodded. She gathered the large chunk of obsidian, which she nearly cut herself on twice after climbing up the side of the portal’s arch to place it back where it had been blown out.

With a deep sigh, she grabbed a torch and placed the fire on the bottom of the portal. 

The grass between the arch of obsidian caught the fire, and lit as though there was a line of oil between the two pillars. The fire shot up, and turned a vivid purple as it reached the top of the arch. It no longer looked like fire, but more like a flowing curtain, a sheet of purple that unfamiliar patterns moved across at their own will. 

Aphmau didn’t bother to look back as she stepped into it.


	14. Into the Dark

Hell.

That’s the first word that came to her mind as she stepped out the other side of the portal.

This is exactly what she thought Hell would look like.

The ground was mulch-like gravel, all varying shades of red. Looking up, she saw there was no sky, and this mulch built high, higher than anything she had ever seen, making the entire realm seem like a giant cavern. The only light came from oozing streams of lava that appear randomly over the landscape.

And the entire sea of it that stretched farther than the eye could see, and with one false step she could fall into. 

The heat of the place hit her next. Despite the cold mountains on the other side of the portal, this place was hotter than an August afternoon in the desert.

She picked a direction and started walking. She walked for what seemed like an eternity, in the barren and rugged wastes of this unknown hellscape, narrowly avoiding several cliffs. That eternity she felt was only around twenty minutes. That is, until she found what she was looking for. 

Again, a gigantic cavern that stretched for miles and was nearly a mile tall, with a sea of boiling lava, However what was different about this place was its gigantic fortress that sat smack in the middle of the burning ocean, with a stone bridge as the only way to enter it.

She slowly began to climb down the cliff she was on top of, which was another eternity in itself. 

The bridge was about fifty yards long, and she could see two armoured soldiers standing guard at the entrance to the forest, like two sharp canines to the mouth of a devil.

She clutched her sword that she had taken from Phoenix Drop, and thought back to the lessons Zenix and Garroth had taught her, despite their teachings being very different in style and execution.

She wondered which one to use in this situation: Garroth’s moves were sturdy, filled with strength and precision. He would fight her honestly and fairly. Zenix’s style was flighty, wild and impulsive, and he would often do things like trip her and knock her from behind. 

As the two guards ran at her, her body decided before her mind that wild and impulsive was the way to go.

The first soldier swung at her neck, which she barely dodged by ducking to the ground. She took advantage of her enemy’s lack of lower defenses and cleaved her sword through one leg and a half. As the second guard attempted to strike down her skull, her sword took home in their ribcage. As that guard fell, she turned back to the first and jabbed the sword straight through their chest to ensure they were out of commission. 

Gasping and sweating she looked at the two limp bodies. She didn’t have time to freak out. She allowed herself five minutes to regain her energy and her thoughts before she headed into the Devil’s mouth.

The inside looked just as dreadful and bare as the rest of the god-forsaken realm.

She made her way up the flight of stairs, as two more soldiers came for her. She used the same tactics she did before, however one of the guards was able to land a hard blow on the side of her chest before Aphmau struck him down.

Aphmau let herself have ten minutes this time, trying to regain as much of her lost health as possible. 

This routine continued two more times. Climbing up one set of stairs, getting attacked by the strange, inhuman guards, and letting herself rest. Until finally she reached the top floor that held an unnerving room.

The room’s walls were the same brick as the rest of the castle, the color of which was akin to dried blood. A small cage was built into the right side of it, however Aphmau could not quite see if it was inhabited. 

However she was more worried about the pair of floating purple eyes.

They were only about the size of her fist, and there was no body to them, instead only the occasional flicker of violet flame beneath. 

“My reign…” a disambiguated voice retched. “My reign will spread into the world. Man shall know no leader as great as I. No hope for the future will come. I will ensure it.”

Aphmau swung her sword through the flickers, and with that the eyes and voice were gone.

_ Did I win? _ Aphmau thought to herself. 

A soft yip caused her head to snap in the direction of the cage.

A tiny wolf pup was now scratching at the bars. Aphmau used her sword to pick the lock free.

“Are you one of them? You smell like Lowell.”

Aphmau tried at giving a reassuring smile. 

“I’m not one of them, I’m here to save you.”

The little wolf nudged up against her. “Thank you. I just wanna go home. THis place is really scary.”

“Don’t worry, I’m taking you home. Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay, the bad men were trying to use me as a sacrifice to make that scary shadow stronger but then this masked man showed up and told them to stop. He looked different from the rest.”

“Sacrifice? Masked man? Wait, where’s the Lord?”

“The Lord was taken by the masked man. He was so brave and tried to help me out of here but he was captured too… when the masked man came and saw he was here he said something about ‘not having to kidnap him, himself’, knocked the Lord out and took him with him. The masked man looked nice at first… but he was scary.”

“What… this is just,” Aphmau’s mind was completely scattered. “Nevermind, let’s just get you home.”

“Please, it’s so hot here and I’m thirsty and scared. Thank you so much, Miss.”

☬

After what felt like a second eternity, Aphmau could see the portal less than a hundred yards away from on top the nearby cliff she had climbed when coming in.. 

She stopped short when she saw someone jogging towards it. 

“Zenix?” She called. His head spun back.

“Zenix! What are you doing here?” She yelled, smiling in relief. “I thought you disappeared, I-”

Her relief stopped when she saw something or some _ one _ he was carrying.

“Zenix?”

He leaped through the portal without a moment’s more hesitation.


	15. The Lord of Brightport

When Aphmau appeared through the other side of the portal, for a split second she thought that she was still in the Nether. 

Fire.

The beautiful cave was in flames. Parts of the ground had been overturned. Quickly, she was able to douse the flames with the natural spring water that flowed out.

_ What happened? Did he do this? No, no at least he’s safe.  _ She thought.

She walked out of the cave. 

Her jaw went slack. 

The entire village was on fire. The houses, the small box gardens, everything . Anything that wasn’t was already destroyed.

And the wolves were nowhere in sight.

_ Oh Irene, please no, _ Aphmau ran to the other cave.

She nearly fainted in relief to see the wolves gathered outside.

Bodolf showed no signs of panic. “Did you save Kiva?”

“Yes, I have her.” 

“Our tribe owes you immensely. However now is not the time for celebration. We were attacked by a…”

Aphmau’s shoulder tightened. “A what?”

“I do not know what it was. Some kind of shadow. But that was not the only thing. There was a man, a guard, I wasn’t able to see his face, but it was definitely a man. He and his gang did not smell like our kind.

“There were more?”

“A woman with hair as white as snow, and a man with hair like night and eyes of water. They all wore masks so we can only assume they were from the village of Bright Port.”

“No! They couldn’t! They took the Lord!”

“They… what? If that is true, they headed east of here. Do what you must but leave Kiva inside the cave. It is the safest spot for the pups as we’re on guard until the flames do as nature intended. Come back once we have secured our home. Thank you for this, human, I will hold our assault on Bright Port until we have proof of their innocence.”

Several of the other wolves guarding the entrance to the cave spoke out. 

“No respect for lives of others, We will attack like they do us!”

“If they come back, we kill them!”

“Pups must be safe! Last of our kind!” 

The declaration continued as she entered the cave to see the rest of the tribe inside. 

Lowell came springing up to her. 

“Kiva! She’s back! I can smell her!” He cried. “Thank you Aphmau! When I become Alpha, I will always remember you,”

Aphmau set Kiva on the ground. 

“Miss, thank you so much. But- my home isn’t what it was. I’m grateful but i don’t know how to feel right now.”

Aphmau, for lack of a better alternative gave her a few pats on the head to show sympathy.

She then turned to Khira.

“Husband not… Husband not… Husband not see that this is work of shadow humans. He does not believe that humans would attack without reason, but he has much rage against Bright Port. I hope… I hope… I hope he does not think of doing something so rash. There are human cubs in the village.”

☬

Aphmau didn’t care what Bodolf had said about letting nature run its course. She had spent the rest of that night putting out as much fire as she could. It was past dawn when she finally doused the last of the smouldering flames.

Some of the houses were in better condition than others, but it would still take weeks, if not months to rebuild. 

At she set east, she met the Elder Wolf that she had met right before venturing into the Nether. 

“If you seek the monsters who did this, be warned. They seek to use the power to strengthen a shadow that does not belong to this realm. A shadow that answers to only the one who bore it. The person who calls himself king of this land.”

“What?”

“I meddle not in the affairs of humans to tell you more. Just know that we are all in great danger. 

Aphmau just kept walking, unsure of how to answer. She climbed down the steep hill and set out east, into the great valley. 

She had barely been walking for five minutes when she saw it.

The grass had been dampened with red liquid. 

She followed the trail of blood for a good half hour, along the edge of a small forest, until it stopped to the side of a large hill. Aphmau cursed quietly and looked all around for another sign but there was none.

Aphmau sat herself at the base of the giant hill, trying to figure out how to proceed, until she turned her head to see it.

A rusted, iron door. Placed neatly into the side of the hill.

Bingo.

It took an almost embarrassing amount of time to try and get through the door, before Aphmau was finally able to force it open with the help of her sword.

Inside was a tiny hallway lit by torches, at the end of which led into a small stone cellar. 

Where Zenix waited inside.

Aphmau gasped.

Zenix turned to her and drew his sword.

“Nothing personal, Aphmau. This is for the good of everyone. Sorry it had to go down like this.”

Aphmau blocked the sword that easily could have killed her. 

“Zenix, Zenix, we don’t need to do this, _ Zenix- _ ”

He would not listen. His sword came viciously and without hesitation. Aphmau had no choice but to fight back.

“Zenix, no! Stop! I don’t want to do this!” 

Aphmau’s sword bounced off his and went straight into the side of his helmet, knocking him to the floor.

“Zenix, I’m sorry, I-”

Through the same hallway she had come, the man with the green mask appeared.

“You.” Aphmau was dazed.

But the man with the green mask did not wait for her next words. Within seconds, He had grabbed Zenix and disappeared.

Not ran away,  _ disappeared _ . Completely into thin air. There was no sign of them left behind.

“Wait no, come back!”  _ I’ve seen him before but- _

Before Aphmau could finish her thought she noticed a door in the corner of the room. The door led to another room, a prison cell the only distinction of it. Inside the prison cell lay a man in his early forties with coal black hair and a matching beard, dressed in clothes that were likely once very fine, but had become rough with dirt, blood and rips.

“Who are you, and are you with that damned guard?”

She opened the cell’s door and approached the now standing Lord.

“No, no I’m not. My name is Aphmau, I’ve been sent to find you from Azura, the head guard in Bright Port, your village.” Aphmau smiled, more to herself than for the Lord. 

“My village? It still stands? Oh thank Irene,” He groaned. “I had feared the worst had happened to it. It’s hard to tell how much time goes by in the nether. It feels as though it’s been months.”

Aphmau raised an eyebrow. “You’ve only been missing for about a week, are… are you okay?”

“I’m… I’m alright. Rather tired and exhausted. It feels as though it's been an age since I’ve slept or eaten. Now that I think about it, My body hurts. A lot.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll help you to the village, but first I have a favour to ask of you.”

“Speak,”

“I need your help. My friend Garroth is incredibly hurt, and the only way we can help him is with your healing magick. Do you think you can help me in return?”

The Lord gave a long sigh. “I’m sorry,”

Aphmau’s heart stopped. “What?”

“Under any other circumstance I would help you without question for what you have done for me. But, the masked man used a crystal that took my powers from me. I think it has something to do with the weakened shadow in the Nether, but-  _ agh, _ ” the Lord grabbed his head. “It hurts just thinking of that thing’s face,”

“Don’t worry, We’ll talk more later. Let’s get you home to your people.”


	16. Return Home

“It’s good to be home,” Lord Burt, The Lord of Bright Port sighed. “I see my village has become, well,  _ different _ while I was away. Looks like I need to get back to work to restore it to its former glory.”

Aphmau had returned him back to Bright Port and was now standing in his study at his large yet modest house.

“What exactly has been going on? I’ve been hearing so many rumours about Lords disappearing and this… this king, it’s like he doesn’t want anyone, or rather, any  _ village _ to become  _ better _ .”

“The ‘king’ is a vile man. Many,  _ many _ years ago he was a Lord, much like myself and you, but something happened and he became twisted. Not only him, but everyone he influenced became twisted and swore ultimate loyalty to him. I myself have lost a few noble guards to his influence. Thank Irene the light protects Azura.”

“The light?”

“It’s a bond between Lord and guard that cannot be broken. Only a few guards have a pure heart that protects themselves from becoming tainted like those Shadow Knights. Anyways, I left the village to find a way to put an end to the disappearances, When I came upon the werewolves and I attempted to help… Well, I’m sure you can figure the rest from there.”

“Yes, but  _ can _ we do anything about this?” Aphmau inquired.

“I’m afraid after these recent events, our best bets are to stand down and hope they don’t come after us. Right now I am in no shape to find any answers. For the time being, I am going to rest and secure my village. But here,” The Lord grabbed a bottle off the top shelf of a nearby bookcase. “It’s not full healing magick, But this is the last of my healing potions. Take it to your friend, I’m sure this will help him.”

“Thank you. I’ll never forget this.”

“Consider us even. Now, I need to rest. Good luck and safe travels.”

☬

“Aphmau!” Brendan sobbed as he ran up and squeezed her. She hadn’t even tied her boat to the dock yet. He twirled her around in the air several times before gently setting her back down again.

“Thank Irene you’re back, Garroth’s been getting worse every day. He’s basically on death’s doorstep-- wait, where’s the Lord of Bright Port?”

“It’s a long story, but I have a healing potion that works just as well.”

“Thank goodness. Quick, you need to take this to Garroth.”

Aphmau didn’t waste a second more to respond. She began sprinting over the hill and into the medical building Garroth was being kept in. She burst through the door, not even looking at Kiki in the corner. 

Garroth was lying on the small white bed against the back wall, with Thorgi still watching him diligently.

Aphmau hesitated. She realized this could be the opportunity to see Garroth’s face, which he had kept hidden from everyone for Irene knows how long. She had no idea what he looked like underneath. She hadn’t seen him show even an ounce of skin since she’d known him. 

She took a long hard look at him, before leading him up, and sliding the potion underneath his helmet and averting her eyes as she slowly spilled it into his mouth.

Not even half the bottle was gone before he jerked up.

“Where the hell- Where am I?” He rubbed the back of his helmet. “Wait,  _ where’s Zenix? _ ”

“Calm down, you're safe. What happened?” Aphmau tried to ease him.

“What happened? Last I remember, Zenix and I were going to investigate a suspicious door. We suspected it might have been a hideout of the man who shot Brendan but… I went to the door and the next thing I know there’s an arrow in my chest. Zenix said he saw a man with a mask who shot it and chased after him. That’s when I blacked out.”

Aphmau had to give a long exhale before telling Garroth the events of Bright Port and Zenix.

“Zenix… Could he… could he really have done this?” Garroth’s cracked voice cut Aphmau’s heart in two. He kept speaking, more to himself than Aphmau;

“No… No he couldn’t have, I refuse to believe it. Sure, he was a troubled kid when I found him but… he would never do something like this… He’s like a son to me. No… someone must have convinced him, or done something to make him do this…”

“I’m sorry, Garroth.” It was all Aphmau could offer him. “You need to recover. I’ll let you be.” 

“Wait, I want to-” He let out a loud grunt and clutched the side of his chest. “I want to continue… but you’re right, M’lady, as usual. I’m just glad you’re home safe.”

Aphmau smiled and nodded, and slowly walked to the opposite side of the room where Kiki was sitting in a wood chair next to a long desk.

“Brendan has been waiting for your return since you’ve left. He feels guilty that the last of the original herb was used on him. He doesn’t think highly of himself compared to Garroth,” Kiki sighed to herself.

“Poor guy,” was all Aphmau could respond with. However there was a different matter she wanted to discuss with Kiki, she grabbed a nearby chair and started to explain what happened with the werewolves.

“Bodolf is… he remembers me,” She said with an awed look. “That makes me so happy,” 

“Maybe you should go visit him sometime,” Aphmau suggested.

Kiki wiped away her tears and gave a sadden smile as she shook her head.

“I don’t think that’s possible. Truth be told, Bodolf confessed he had feelings for me the last time we’d met. I don’t think I could face him again. When I gave him that bunny doll, he gave it back to me under the guise that Alpha’s could not accept gifts from humans, but-” she shook her head, letting the rest of the thought run away.

“I don’t plan on speaking to him again. Unless Bright Port is in need of help, then I will gladly swallow my pride.”

Aphmau, with no better way to respond, nodded her head and left Kiki to her thoughts.


	17. A Peaceful Day

Words could not express how amazing it felt to finally wake up in her own house at Phoenix Drop. It seemed as though so much and so little time had gone while she was away from home. After all the events of Bright Port and the werewolf tribe, the sense of just being back left her bathing in relief. 

Today was her day to readjust herself. She (and Thorgi) spent the first half of the morning checking on Garroth. He was still sleeping when she arrived at the house, but was given a good report by Kiki, saying though his recovery seems slow, he was still doing well. Of course, she also advised Aphmau to take a rest as well, to which Aphmau happily obliged.

However, her definition of ‘rest’ may have been somewhat different to Kiki’s. She spent the rest of the morning doing small chores around the village, such as feeding some of the newly gained livestock, and talking to the familiar faces she had yet to see. 

The village seemed to have grown even more in her absence. The original thirty or so villagers that had been here when she first arrived had grown to almost 100, possibly even more. Brendan had even told her that there had been an increase in the number of guards, despite his complaints that a few of them had followed in Dale’s footsteps and somehow gotten stuck in the well.

Speaking of Dale, she happened to stumble upon the drunkard lying down in the middle of the plaza without a care in the world.

“Dale? You okay?” She bent over him.

“Wowie Aphmoo, you look purty,” He hiccuped. “Don’tchu worry about me! I jus’ have som magic DRINK Logan bring to town and WHOOPS I go down.”

For a more comprehensible answer, Aphmau ignored his rambling and went over to Donna, who was near Logan’s stand.

She let out a big hearty laugh “Logan started sellin’ ale.” She held up a small tankard of her own. “It’s been a while since I’ve had some good stuff like this, and not that half-ass homemade bread water. I should try ‘n limit myself though. That ol’ lug on the ground’s had a tankard and a half and look at him!”

Aphmau couldn’t help but laugh. She then turned to greet Logan.

“Good Afternoon,  _ Lord  _ Aphmau. I finally got shop open. Care to take a look? Seeing as your guards already helped themselves to the ale.”

Aphmau said she would later, seeing as she didn’t have any money on her at the moment. She also went to see Zoey, who had set up her own stall, and was selling her lights at half price to celebrate Garroth’s recovery. 

This caused Aphmau to sprint back to her house to retrieve some coin. She did try to be nice and stop for Emmalyn, who was walking down the road with her nose in a book, but she dismissed Aphmau with a single sentence. 

“Ugh, Leave me alone.”

Aphmau didn’t bother to stop for anyone else.

☬

Aphmau had gone back to buy several strands of fairy lights that she used to decorate the plaza with, and finally get rid of the ugly torches she had secretly hated. The next few weeks went just as calmly, with Aphmau working with Brendan on harvesting crops and doing occasional trade. The only major development that happened was Donna confiding with Aphmau that she and Logan had begun dating. And though Garroth was taking a longer time to recover than she thought, she was still happy for the blanket of peace that had fallen over the village.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter! I usually try to make each episode it own chapter and not a lot happened in this one, But the next chapter we get to meet Levin! (:


	18. The Baby

The man with the green mask had travelled a long way. He had no other place where he could have taken it and guaranteed the chest’s safety.

On top of a lone hill, in front of her house, her carefully set the chest a few feet from the front door. He opened it one last time, to guarantee the content was still intact, gently closed it, and left just as quickly as he had come.

☬

Aphmau had woken slightly earlier than usual, with the sun not even fully over the horizon. Yet when she opened the door, something already usually had occured.

A small chest had been carefully placed in front of her doorstep. After taking a quick glance to see there was no one around to claim the box, she took it upon herself to review the contents.

Aphmau squealed when she opened it.

Inside the chest, swaddled in soft blue cotton, was a baby. 

The baby seemed barely more than a year old, and was sleeping peacefully in the chest, with a small metal tag placed gently on top of his chest.

“ _ Baby, _ ” Aphmau awed. She slowly picked him up and inspected the tag, inscribed upon it was a single word:

_ Levin. _

She looked back to the baby. “Is that your name?” 

The baby yawned and continued to sleep without a care in the world.

Aphmau did a full perimeter around her house and afterward the whole hill to see if there was anyone around to claim the child. Naturally, there wasn’t a single person in sight.

“Ok little Levin, you and I are gonna go on a small trip around the village, and see if anyone accidentally left you here,”

She started to descend down the hill, which felt slightly more treacherous than normal now that she had a baby in her arms.

However, She first stopped at the house where Garroth was recovering. 

She smiled to see that Garroth was slowly walking back and forth across the one-room house, with Kiki reading in the opposite corner.

“Garroth! It’s so good to see you, how are you holding up?”

His head jolted back in surprise.

“Lady Aphmau, I hate for you to see me like this. In both body and mind. I’m afraid I’m not all here at the moment.”

“Please, don’t worry about it Garroth,”

He gave a joyless chuckle. “You’re too polite for your own good, Milady. That arrow more than hurt my flesh, it pierced my pride a-” He grunted as he tried to fix his leaning posture, and went straight back to his hunched position against the wall. He finally turned his head towards her and away from the floor. 

“It’s difficult to walk straight up, not so much in my legs as in my abdomen-what is that?” He stopped short.

“What’s what?”

Aphmau swore she could hear him blink.

“Milady… since when did you have a baby?”

“Since this morning. He was left in front of my door.” Aphmau replied, in a surprisingly calm tone.

This caused a shift Garroth’s whole demeanor, and his posture almost immediately fixed.

“Left at your door? By the six, is he hurt? Is he hungry? Who’s going to take care of him?”

“Me.” She decided right then and there. “I’m going to keep him.”

Again, she was almost sure she heard Garroth’s blood pressure rising.

“You’d raise a baby as your own? My Irene, are you sure? A child will be even more responsibility added to your role as Lord.”

“I’m sure,” Aphmau nodded.

Garroth gave a prolonged sigh, but held his head high. “Then I will help you raise him. Should you be needed elsewhere I will take care of him and assure his safety. However, I will also make an attempt to see if we can find his rightful parents, should he be deemed missing. I’ll send a raven to Bright Port to inquire of Azura if any villagers have lost their child or know anything related. Until then, care for him as your own.” There was a pause, where Garroth’s gaze reste intently on the child. He gave Levin a single delicate stroke of the cheek with his gloved knuckle.

“He’s quite sweet, isn’t he?” His voice was airy. “He reminds me of someone.”

But he quickly pulled his hand back and began to turn to the nearby desk. “Now, onto my pen and ink.”

He shuffled over to the nearby wood desk, trying his best to contain his sounds of discomfort.

Kiki, who’s eyes had still yet to leave her book, finally spoke.

“Garroth is making such wonderful progress seeing as his upper body is in so much pain Not only that, he also didn’t receive full healing magicks from a magick user but rather from a bottle. Quite the progress if you ask me!” Her head finally turned away from her book, and landed straight onto Levin.

“Say, since when do you have a baby? If I had known, I would have thrown you a baby shower!”

“He was left at my door this morning.”

This caused Kiki to set her book down to fawn over the child. 

“What? Poor little guy!” She said in a sympathetic tone. “Are you keeping him?”

“Unless we find his parents, yep.”

“How wonderful! You know, it’s never a bad time for a baby shower. I’ll have to throw you one anyways. All babies deserve to be celebrated-keke!”

Aphmau nodded and left to make her rounds of the village.

It had practically become a routine, seeing as she was never told to do otherwise, she figured the best way to be a Lord was to hear the people of the village and improve whatever was in her power. It was through her rounds she had made in the past few weeks that had learned Donna and Logan had become an ‘item’. She only learned this after Donna had become egregiously intoxicated. 

Speaking of intoxicated, Dale was noticeably lacking his usual drunken slump, and went to the position of attention when Aphmau walked towards him.

“Lord Aphmau, many apologies for my… display yesterday. I seem to have more trouble holding my drinks now than when I was younger. It won’t happen agai- Is that a baby?”

“Yes. He was left at my door. I’m keeping him.” She didn’t mean to sound rude, but she didn’t want to answer the same questions over and over again.

“Really? That’s splendid! This town could always use more guards. Uncle Dale will make sure of it!”

Aphmau gave a polite laugh and bid him a good day before walking over to Donna, who cut her short several feet with glowing eyes.

“Is that a BABY? I love babies! I’ve always wanted to have one! Or ten! Oh no, poor thing’s cryin’. Did I startle you, lil’ one?” She cooed and brushed a had against his cheek. “I’m sorry, Aph. Maybe I can hold ‘im later?” She began to descend into only speaking baby gibberish. Logan, on the other hand, seemed less than impressed. 

“That a baby? Never cared for those things much. Don’t let it throw up on any of my wares.”

Brendan was the next person on her list. He was tending the farms when she approached.

“Hey Aphmau! Good news, I think Sean here has stopped growing,” He motioned the gigantic hamster next to him. “Me and Cuddlezilla have been keeping an eye on his weight and diet since Kiki started taking care of Garroth. Glad to know we won’t have a giant hamster running around!” Brendan looked to her arms. “Is that a baby?”

Aphmau repeated her story for the millionth time.

Brendan smiled and gazed at the babe. “He’s adorable. Hey, since you’re keeping him, do you think you could let me take him about the village sometime? Ladies love a dude who’s good with kids. Er- not that I’m looking for a girl to marry or anything like that! Or, unless someone wanted to,” 

Brendan started mumbling and delving deeper into his thoughts which Aphmau took as a good cue to leave.

The last visit she made that day was to be with Zoey, afterwards she planned on making an appropriate nursery for the child in one of the side rooms in the cellar beneath her house.

After a few days, when the room was finally repaired and furnished, Levin seemed to have trouble getting attached to it, for he seemed to prefer the comfort of Aphmau’s arm around him during sleep.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! sorry it's been a while. School has been killing me and sad to say updates are gonna be slower from now on. I hope you enjoyed the new chapter!


	19. Friends New and Old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had a caffeine binge last night and stayed up until 2:45 in the morning last night writing this chapter knowing damn well I had school in the morning. Oh well, enjoy.

“Oi! New mummy coming out of the cave with her little cub!” Dale sang as Aphmau neared him. “Good to see yah this mornin’ Miss Aphmau- and the little Levin of course! How is the little guy?”

Levin gave a happy babble in response. 

Dale gave a satisfied and somewhat tipsy grin before redirecting his attention back to Aphmau. “Oh, by the way Miss Aphmau, I’m s’poused to tell you that Miss Kiki has gone an’ done thrown you a baby shower! Girl even convinced Garroth to send his ole Raven around for supplies. Though I don’t think he much objected to throwing Little Levin here a party. In fact, he welcomed it like a proud father, he did!” He laughed. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Aphmau tried her best to process the guard’s slurred words.

“I’m a dad myself, y’know,” Dale said, completely ignoring her question, “Lil Bryan may have gone off to real guard academy now that he’s old enough and I couldn’t be more proud of him. I now the loo a dads gets- hey, ever think about pairin’ up with Garroth?”

Aphmau, a bit thrown off by the bluntness of the question, could only give a stuttering “I don’t think so, I’ve got too much going on right now,”

Dale nodded his head. “Aye, I suppose right now ain’t the best time. Well, you still best get going to the party. Garroth was kind enough to let Kiki use the old barn house as a venue. The men of the village are up to other matters since this is a ladies’ ordeal. Take care!”

Aphmau had no qualms with leaving Dale to pretend he was doing something important and made her way to the house where Garroth was stationed. 

Garroth had moved from the bed and now opted for sitting at the nicely carved dark oak desk, whose surface was occupied by a small clumsy pile of papers and ink bottle. 

“Lady Aphmau, come in!” Garroth got up out of his seat, however still kept a firm grip on the top of the chair’s back, a sign of his lingering soreness. As always, his helmet still covered his face. 

“It’s lovely to see you, and Little Levin of course,” He voiced fondly.

“It’s good to see you too, Garroth. How is your wound healing.”

At the mention of his injury, Garroth took his hand off the chair in what was likely an attempt to make himself seem more fit. 

“It is quite fine, I hope to be back in action soon. But it is no matter,” he spoke quickly, seemingly eager to drop the subject. “Have you met my Raven?” 

Aphmau shook her head, and Garroth turned to lean his arm towards the corner of the desk, blocking Aphmau’s view. 

When he turned himself back, she was not greeted with the large black winged creatures she saw coming and going from the village so often.

Instead, perched on Garroth’s arm, was a small golden dragon. 

Aphmau gaped.

It carried itself in the same way a normal raven did, with two sharp-taloned feet clutched to Garroth’s arm, and two wings covered not with feathers but golden scales that faded to a pale moonlight yellow. It’s snake-like face even morphed into a gray beak that was preening one of it’s golden wings.

“I… don’t think that’s a raven.” was the only thing Aphmau found herself capable of saying.

Garroth gave a warm, thoughtful laugh. 

“No, his name is Raven. He’s a baby wyvern. The runt of his litter, I believe. His mother tried to eat him until I stepped in. He’s been a friend and loyal companion ever since. He’s the one who carries my letters to and from. He’s not particularly social, but he returned a few days back and hasn’t left my side since, like your Thorgi. I think he might sense I’m hurt.” Garroth got quieter at the end.

“But again it’s no matter. This is a special day, you and Levin should be attending your party. No need to keep company with an injured guard. Take care now.”

Aphmau bid him well and made her way to the old barn house with Little Levin in tow. 

“Surprise!” Kiki shouted as she threw an armload of confetti in the air. 

The large one-room house was cleaned and decorated with ribbons of various colors and fairy lights undoubtedly purchased from Zoey. A small pile of wrapped gifts sat daintily on a wood table placed in the far right corner.

“Happy baby shower! I know it’s a bit tacky seeing as it was kind of last minute, but I hope you still like it,”

“It’s perfect, Kiki. Thank you so, so much,” Aphmau grinned as she excitedly looked around the room. 

Kiki squealed in delight. “I’m so happy you like it! Well, here’s my gift to you, you should probably go and talk to everyone else. They all have gifts for you too! I gotta stand around and be a good party host, kekeke~! Oh, and one more thing,” her voice got softer and more thoughtful, “You should go down by the docks tonight. There’s someone there that will be waiting for you.”

Before Aphmau could ask anything, Kiki ran to greet the latest person who had arrived.

Aphmau greeted Zoey first, to complement her craftsmanship of the lights, to which Zoey gave a humble acceptance. 

When Aphmau turned, she was shocked to see that the head guard of Bright Port, Azura of all people, was also attending the shower.

“Aphmau, let me see the little one,” she smiled and let Levin give a curious tug on her finger. 

“I came here on Garroth’s behest. I wanted to tell you in person that there has been no news of a woman looking for her missing baby, so as of now he’s yours until further notice. In any case, I’ll keep my ears open. Irene knows if a mother is missing her baby she won’t let it go unnoticed. Keep the little one safe.” She gave a small bow of her head. 

Donna made a slight jog on her way over and took over the space between Aphmau and Azura.

“Let me see the Lil’ Levin!” Donna made loud baby gibberish which elicited a barrel of laughter from the child. 

“He’s so darlin’. Y’know, you could pass for his mother in my opinion! All fat and chubby and cute!”

“Did you just call me fat?” Aphmau squinted.

“Yes I did! It’s cute baby fat though, I’d love to have it too! It’s all in your cheeks so there’s no need to worry. You’re beautiful no matter what! I’m gonna have to talk to Logan about this, speaking of which, he wanted me to give this to you.”

Donna handed her a beautifully embroidered blue blanket that was the perfect size to swaddle Levin in. 

“Oh my, this is amazing, Donna!” 

“Don’t mention it, Princess.” she winked. 

☬

Aphmau spent the rest of the day talking and celebrating with those who had come to the party.

Paul had shown up too, and had asked about Visher’s wife, Merida. When Aphmau had told him that Merida didn’t exactly give her the warmest welcome when she had visited, Paul had mentioned that both she and John had also been invited to Levin’s baby shower but had declined on the account that Merida hated her. 

Aphmau was disappointed but not surprised at the news, however she was more disappointed by the fact that John had not been able to attend rather than Visher’s furious widow. 

She left the party not long after that. 

Darkness had begun to creep over the village, with only a few street torches having been lit. 

She made her way down to the marketplace, where Logan seemed to be packing up his wares. He eyed Aphmau as she approached. 

“Hey, don’t go used to gettin’ free stuff like the thing Donna gave you. It wasn’t cheap, k’now.”

“I know. And thank you.”

Logan scoffed. “You’re welcome, Lord Aphmau. Shop is closed. I don’t want baby spit everywhere. Be on your way.”

Aphmau grinned and rolled her eyes at Logan’s ever present curtness. She was about to head to the other side of town to visit the docks when she caught Brendan out of the corner of her eye, talking to a woman she didn’t recognize.

The woman was fairly short and incredibly pale. She wore a black jacket with a hood that only covered the back of her head. Long, snow white hair fell in loose waves down to her chest, where her hands were kept nonchalantly in her pockets. 

She was incredibly pretty.

“Hey Aphmau!” Brendan greeted. “I was just telling Sasha here all about you!” He leaned in closer to her so only she could hear. “ _ Can I hold Levin? I’m trying to make it work with her, _ ”

“ _ No. get your own swag, _ ” She hissed. 

“ _ What does that even mean?- Fine, whatever. Guess I just have to rely on my own natural talent _ ,” He returned to a normal speaking voice. “So, Sasha, how do you feel about… hamsters?”

The white haired woman, Sasha, ignored Brendan’s question and turned to Aphmau. 

“Hello Aphmau, Brendan here has told me so much about you. My name is Sasha. I come from a kingdom far from here. I wanted to travel around and see the world, so here I am!” she smiled. 

“Say, is that your baby? He’s precious! May I hold him?”

Aphmau became a little more apprehensive.

“I’m sorry, but we’ve only just met and I…”

Sasha took a step back.

“My apologies, you are very right. I got carried away with his cuteness. In any case, congratulations on your newborn. I hope this isn’t too sudden, but I was planning on moving here if there’s room. I’ve decided that I like this place. Would that be alright?”

Aphmau shrugged. “Sure. Anyone is welcome.”

Sasha clasped her hands together. “That’s wonderful to hear! Thank you very much. Now I think I’ll have Brendan here show me around.”

Sasha was escorted away by a very red Brendan who did his best to keep conversation going with the woman.

☬

Aphmau could see the tall, shaggy figure that waited by the edge of the docks. Aphmau jumped into a light jog.

“Khira!”

“Aphmau,” She greeted calmly. “Glad to see you have a cub of your own now. Your pack seems… your pack seems… your pack seems like a wonderful group, especially with Kiki in it. She invited… She invited me to the party, but I cannot take human form, so I fear I would not be welcome. Needless to say… Needless to say… Needless to say I’m glad I could make it. Here, this is from the tribe to your cub.”

Khira extended her clawed hand and carefully placed a small, humbly carved wooden amulet that hung by a carefully braided piece of twine.

“This will give.. This will give your cub the blessing of the moon and fill him with strength.”

Aphmau bowed her head and looked over the small charm.

“Thank you very much, but… Is your village okay?”

Khira raised her head. “It is very… It is very… It is very prosperous. Wolves have an undying determination. No doubt was placed into our home being forsaken. But your village… Your village… Aphmau, I smell an evil inside it. Please be careful. Now I must take my leave. Farewell, Aphmau.”

Khira turned back to the raft she had presumably sailed on, however before she could depart a smaller, familiar wolf leaped to the dock with an object in his mouth. 

“Miss Aphmau!” Kiva panted excitedly. “Lowell says ‘Hi!’ and that you should come to the village sometime to play! Is that your cub? Humans look weird when they’re tiny.” The little wolf nudged the object he had dropped from her mouth closer to Aphmau.

“Please take this wolf dolly! Ma’yah helped us make it, but it’s from both me and Lowell. Have a good night!” 

Without so much as waiting for a response, Kiva ran and jumped back onto the raft. 

Aphmau stood and waved as they disappeared over the horizon, and without word or noise, Levin smiled curiously at her before copying the same movement. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! A big thanks to this chapter's sponsor, Pepsi, for fueling my two hour caffeine high that allowed this chapter to be written.   
> Also, if y'all were confused about "Ma'yah" Its the term the werewolves use for "Mom". This wasn't in the OG series, but I really love working on creating and studying different languages that I wanted to add some in. I'll be sure to put clarification for any fantasy language term in the notes if I don't directly address it in the text.   
> Love y'all! Hope you liked the new chapter <3


	20. Crazy Day

Thorgi trotted happily behind Aphmau as they walked the familiar path to the marketplace. Aphmau was now doing what had become her daily routine of going around the village and talking to the people to help with any problems they might be having. It had yet to be an eventful morning, until Kiki approached her.

“Hey, Aphmau?” Her voice was a bit thin, trying to sound soft as a way to mask the concern.

“Morning, Kiki. Can I help you?”

“Ah yes, well, you see- we’re having a bit of a problem with a travelling merchant-”

Aphmau heard drunken whooping and yelling from the plaza.

Once she entered the plaza she was greeted with the sight of a drunken Dale dancing around Logan’s stall, an irritated Logan trying desperately to get him to stop, and an unfamiliar gnarled old man covered in dirt appearing to set up in an empty stand nearby all while loudly talking to himself in garbled, unintelligible speech. 

Aphmau walked right past the Dale situation and over to the old man. Dale’s antics had become routine enough to the point where she no longer bothered with trying to stop him. Best to let him wear himself out and end up snoring under a tree. 

The old man perked up when she approached, and gave her a near-toothless grin. 

“HEY YOU YOUNGIN!” he yelled in three times the necessary volume. “I USED TO SELL ICE CREAM IN MY OLD VILLAGE BUT THEY STOPPED ME BECAUSE I USED TO MUCH GUNPOWDER IN THE RECIPE BUT THAT JUST ADDED MORE BOOM TO THE FLAVOR Y’KNOW? ANYWAY THEY’RE DIRT CHEAP SO GET ALL YOU WANT!” He ended his yelling with a loud and highly unnecessary whoop.

“Sir, I don’t know if it’s wise for you to be in my town right n-”

“NOW DON’T BE SHY BUY AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE!” 

Aphmau took a deep sigh. She reached into her satchel and took out all of the money she had on her.

“I’ll buy your whole stock, just please be on your way.” she said desperately.

The man gave the money a once-over and unceremoniously shoved it back to her. 

“NAH MISS I TOLD YA I DON’T NEED THAT MUCH MONEY I JUST NEED ME IN DIRT!”

Aphmau pinched the bridge of her nose.

“You want… to be paid… in dirt,”

“YAH HO MISS! BROWN DIRT, BLACK DIRT, YELLAH DIRT IF YA GOT IT! ALL DIRTS’ WILL DO!”

Aphmau, out of both desperation, irritation, and fear of going deaf made her walk to the nearest unpaved patch and had her scoop up dirt into her dress and dump it on the man’s stand.

She heard Logan shout at her, “ _Goddamnit Aphmau!_ Control your guards! You call yourself a Lord? Dale is dancing all over my stand and I can’t call the guards to do anything about it because he’s the one in charge of them and he’s _drunk off his ass!_ ”

Aphmau turned to see that Dale was in fact swirling on the wooden desk frame on Logan’s stand.

“Zee women had bozze at za shower and give’d me the _tasssssssk_ of tossin’ it out! So’s I did! Right in meh belly!” he erupted with laughter.

 _My village is doomed,_ She thought to herself. 

It was only nine in the morning.

☬

The sun was about noon when she left the plaza, in desperate need of a distraction.

She was going to check on Garroth, when she glanced to her left to see Brendan at the end of the road standing outside a house with a small box in hand. 

Aphmau, never seeming to learn the simple art of minding her own business, approached him.

“Isn’t Sasha beautiful? She was so close to touching my hand earlier. It’s almost like we were made for eachother,” He gave a dreamy sigh.

“Brendan, sweetie, you’re being a bit creepy right now,” Aphmau warned.

Brendan’s shoulders flinched. “Really? Oh no, do you think she noticed that? _Stupid, Stupid,_ ” he hit the side of his head. “I’m sorry Aphmau, she’s just, she’s the first girl I’ve ever really _liked_.”

Aphmau gave him a small pat on the back for encouragement, and Sasha ducked her head out of the house. 

“Brendan, could you please go down to the market and get some glass bottles for me?”

Brendan gave an enthusiastic nod and jogged just a bit too eagerly down the road.

“Aphmau, it’s good to see you, Would you like to come in?” 

The house that Sasha moved into was one of the smallest in the village, in fact it was barely larger than a shed with only one room. From the doorway Aphmau could see that despite the size, Sasha was able to make good use of the little space. A small, somewhat worn bed and bedframe was laid neatly in the left corner, right next to a desk that likely doubled as a dresser. And the empty shelves attached to the wall were already filled with strange bottles, with about half of them containing brightly colored liquids.

“That’s alright, Thank you though.”

“Brendan’s helped me move into this home, I hope you don’t mind,”

“It’s fine, I wouldn’t expect you to want to live here without a roof over your head.”

Sasha gave a loud laugh that sounded somewhat off. Aphmau couldn’t tell if it was forced or if it was just because Sasha was a bit strange. She was leaning towards the latter.

“Great! Thank you so much, I’ve got a ton of stuff I need to put in place. I study potions in my spare time, it’s kind of a hobby of mine. You know, some of the best Lords in the land have used my potions and remedies after falling ill or even after being poisoned. That’s only happened once or twice though. Not that I would ever wish such a thing on you of course, but if you’re ever in need of anything, just let me know!” She smiled.

Aphmau ignored the girl’s eccentricity once more and gave a polite nod. 

“Of course, you take care now.”

As Aphmau rounded the corner, trying her best to not get involved in any more distractions, she saw a suspicious head dart behind one of the nearby houses. 

Aphmau turned and saw that the suspicious head belonged to Donna, trying her absolute best to look inconspicuous as she spied on Sasha’s house.

“You see it too, right Aph?” She whispered. “Somethin’ about that Sasha girl doesn’t rub me right. She’s usin’ Brendan, and I know a thing or two about usin’ men. What d’you think I first took interest in Logan for? Of course I love him with all my heart now; but puttin’ me aside, I’m tellin’ you that Sasha… reminds me of the old me. I’m gonna be keepin’ an eye on her.”

Aphmau just gave her an exasperated nod and continued on her search for Garroth.

☬

Aphmau spent a solid hour wandering around the village trying desperately to look for Garroth before finally calling it quits and heading back to her house. She went downstairs to check on Levin, only to find Garroth in his room gently rocking him in his arms.

“Garroth! When did you get here?” 

“You asked me to watch him for you today yesterday evening,”

He was right. She had entirely forgotten.

“I’m sorry, it completely slipped my mind.”

“It’s no matter,” He spoke calmly. “However, I’d like a word. I apologize, I should have told you much sooner but… I have some news… on Levin’s origins.”

Something in Aphmau’s chest sunk.

“Oh.”

“Yes, it seems a mother in the southern part of the region has reported her baby boy missing. It just came in this morning. It’s likely that they came later because of their far location. But,” Garroth paused, seemingly unsure if he wanted to voice his next words. 

“But what?”

Garroth was silent for a few moments longer before he turned his covered head to face her. 

“I don’t trust it, Lord Aphmau. I obviously want to see Levin returned home safely, so I was going to ask you,” He took another deep sigh. “Would you be willing to go investigate it? I don’t want to send Levin on a trip across the sea only to find out it’s the wrong child. He could get hurt or worse. So, would you be alright with going to ensure that Levin is her true child? I would send you with an envelope containing a picture of his likeness, I just- I need to be sure that he will be safe.”

Aphmau rested a gentle hand on his arm. “I understand. I’m more than willing to help.”

Garroth’s shoulders sagged with relief.

“Thank you, Milady. I would go myself but,” he gestured to his side. “I’m afraid I’d be too slow. And there is no way I would entrust something like this to Dale or any of his guards.” The last part of his sentence was laced with mild annoyance. “I know you of all people to be the most trustworthy. I swear on my life that I will take the absolute best care of Levin in your stead, and possibly see if any of the women in town would like to help.There are several mothers here more capable than I but,” He shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “Just… take care of yourself. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt.”

Aphmau gave an empathetic smile. “Thank you, Garroth. I’ll head out tomorrow. It’s best you get some rest.”

Garroth thanked her one last time before departing back to the small guard tower. Aphmau tucked Levin into his crib before retiring to bed herself.

And she tried her absolute hardest not to let the tears keep her awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! Had another caffeine binge (honestly that's like the only way I can write now) but hey! at least y'all get another chapter!  
> Als, for those of you unaware, I have an instagram account where I post a lot of MCD fanart if y'all are interested:  
> https://www.instagram.com/stellisketches/  
> Anyway that's it! Hope you liked the chapter!


	21. Water Cats

Aphmau woke before dawn to do some slight work on the crops before she left. When she returned to her house and went downstairs to check on Levin, she was surprised to see not Garroth but Zoey rocking the small babe.

“Good morning Aphmau! I’m glad to see you’ve got an early start,”

“When did you get here?”

“Oh, my apologies! You must think me strange of me just being here. Garroth asked me to babysit Levin while he and Dale worked on setting up defences and posts around the house. Garroth knew of my magick capabilities and figured I’d be the best suited for caring for Levin in his stead. He seems to care for the child a good deal.” her voice got quieter at the end, followed by a moment’s silence. 

“Aphmau,”

“Yes?”

“You do know it’s going to be hard on you to give him up, right?”

Aphmau ignored the small twist in her chest. “I don’t think so,”

Zoey gave a joyless smile. “You say that now, but… it will be difficult handing him over. Maybe… you don’t have to do this. I mean, what kind of mother loses such a precious child?”

“He’s not ours. It’s possible that the child was stolen from her,”

Zoey’s eyes were no longer distant after the remark. “I-I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me. In any case, you should get going. Do not worry one bit, I’ll use my magick to make sure Levin is safe while you are gone, plus, we always have Garroth around for extra security! You're lucky to have such an honorable man in your company. Take care.”

Aphmau bid her farewell and made her way up the stairs. She heard the sounds of men speaking loudly outside her house, only to find Garroth yelling at Dale, who had ended up on her roof with a hammer in hand. Upon seeing Aphmau, however, Garroth acted as though he had all but forgotten the drunk’s presence.

“Aphmau, how are you feeling about all this?”

“This is the right thing to do,” She assured. 

Garroth straightened his back and gave her an assuring nod. 

“Yes, it is. Now, I have something for you,” He presented her with a long, slender case. “This is for your journey. Head to the docks when you are ready. A small ship has been prepared and Azura is waiting there for you. She was kind enough to come over to present the whole missing report.”

“Gotcha. Are you going to be ok?” Aphmau asked as she took the case from him. 

“I’ll be fine. I’m still recovering but at least I can wield a sword. I’m saving my strength for anything that could happen so I’m planning to have Dale set up defenses as soon as I get him off your roof,” He grumbled the last part. “Anyways Aphmau, I hope you have a safe journey.”

“Thank you, I will. I plan to make one more quick rounds about the village before I leave, I-” Aphmau stopped short as she opened the case. 

Inside was a short but well crafted sword with an unusual ice blue tint. On top of it, however, was a gently placed flower crown.”

“Oh Garroth, this is lovely. Did you make this?” She picked up the crown and gently placed it on her head. 

Garroth took a step back and turned his head away from her direction. 

“I-um, well, I,”

“I  _ swears _ , after all this hard’s work, I’llz never pick up another bottle again!” Dale called from the top of her house.

“For the love of Irene, man, will you come down from there?” Garroth shouted. 

Aphmau giggled and equipped the sword across her back as she carefully made her way down the hill. She made a mental note to herself to start working on building a set of stairs when she got back from the journey. 

She decided that her first visit would be to Sasha and Brendan, however was stopped short by the sight of Donna in the same spot she was in yesterday snooping on Sasha’s house. 

“Donna, please tell me you didn’t spend the whole night here,”

“Aphmau, last night a masked man came to visit Sasha. I didn’t get a good look at his face but she started brewin’ a lot more potions after he left. I told Garroth and he’s uppin’ security as we speak. I don’ know what Sasha is up to but I don’ trust it. Brendan won’t give me the time of day though, and Logan thins I should stay out of it.” 

Aphmau gave a long sigh. “Okay.” 

It was all she could muster as a response.

She approached Brendan who was waiting outside of the girl’s house.

“Sasha is so smart, Aphmau!” He gushed. “She’s been busy mixing potions for an order and I’ve been helping her by fetching ingredients she needs. Do you think she could ever love a farm boy like me?”

Aphmau gave him a small pat on the arm, but didn’t want to give him a verbal answer. 

Sasha popped her head out of her door. 

“Aphmau! Brendan told me you were going out of town to try to find Levin’s mom. That’s so noble! Here, you should take this.” She handed her two bottles: one containing a thick orange-ish liquid and the other a pink and watery appearance. “It’s a potion of healing and fire resistance, it should help you in case of any burning accidents. Be sure to rub it all over, especially your neck area. Just be sure not to drop it on any animals though. The healing you would drink normally.”

Aphmau took the gifts and placed it in her satchel. 

“Thank you very much, take care now.” 

“You too!” Sasha smiled, not an ounce of malevolence or secrecy in her tone or face. 

Aphmau left the house. While she told herself she should continue to be suspicious of Sasha just to be safe, she was starting to suspect that she truly was just a bizarre girl with no filter on what came out of her mouth. She wouldn’t be the first of that type in Phoenix Drop and was unlikely to be the last. 

☬

Aphmau finished up her time by visiting Logan, who wanted her to tell Donna to leave Sasha alone and “not to get mixed up in anything she has no business bein’ in,'' Aphmau didn’t bother relaying the message as she was sure there was nothing she could say to make her back off. She made her way down to the docks to see Azura’s corn yellow hair from the top of the hill. 

“Aphmau, I’m sorry to skip the formalities, but Bright Port needs me back as soon as possible. The missing report reads as follows: ‘MISSING: Baby boy with blue eyes and fair hair from the town of Scaleswind. Mother frantically looking for her child.’ Fair hair and blue eyes match Levin’s description. Scaleswind is very far from here, so be safe. That is all, Aphmau. Best of luck.”

Aphmau nodded and jumped into her small sailboat and made her way off

Even though it was already dark, she had barely been at sea for more than an hour and a half when she saw a small black dot coming towards her ship. 

Curiosity getting the best of her, she turned her sail towards it. 

The dot gre bigger and bigger until it was not longer a dot but instead-

“A cat?” She scooped the animal out of the water and into the boat.

“What in Irene’s name are you doing out here?” She asked the shivering creature, the wind began to pick up, and without noticing Aphmau was sailing of course. 

However, she did notice the sound of meowing steadily getting louder. When she lifted her head up, she was greeted by the most bizarre and possibly horrific thing she had ever seen in her recent memory:

Cats. Dozens-  _ Hundreds- _ of them, all coming from a tiny singular island with a tiny house with a warm light emitting from the window. Some of them swimming in the water, and others roaming around the beaches of the small area of land. 

Aphmau ignored every single instinct that screamed at her and she pushed her boat ashore. 

She could barely move a single step trying not to kick any of the cats in her way. She finally got to the front door of the house where she nearly fell in. 

When the door opened, at least ten cats bolted out. The smell was enough to make her eyes water and made her genuinely believe she was going to pass out. There were at least thirty in the room alone. 

An old woman, who Aphmau nearly believed she was hallucinating, spoke out to her from a rocking chair.

“Hi there! I love cats! No dogs allowed! Traveling? YOU CAN STAY! Just don’t step on their pee. They like their pee,”

Aphmau didn't bother answering. She ran out of the house to the farthest point on the island and under a small tree where she tried to contain her stomach. 

It was going to be a long, hairy night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They may not have said it in the original series but Garroth abso-fucking-lutely made that flower crown for Aph and I refuse to believe anything otherwise.   
> Anyway hoping your enjoying my productive weekend! Thanks to everyone who's been reading so far <3  
> Comments are always appreciated!


	22. The Admirer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S LAURANCE TIME BABEY!!!!

The girl with hair like snow had arrived at the island in a vessel even smaller than the one the Lord from Phoenix Drop used. 

She jumped from her raft and went to a spotted ginger cat peacefully napping in the sand. 

She reached to her belt and poured the shimmering contents of a bottle onto the resting animal.

With not so much as a glance around, she jumped back to her raft and left as quickly as she had come.

☬

Aphmau woke to the cries of an old lady right and opened her eyes to see the sun nearing it’s noon peak

“What? How? _How could this have happened?_ This has never happened before!”

Aphmau’s eyes focused to see that the old woman, who was clutching an old green shawl around her, was staring in worry, confusion, and horror at what was in front of her. 

“That is a big cat,” Aphmau said dumbfoundedly as she walked over.

A spotted ginger cat was roughly seven feet tall, enough to look Garroth, an absolute tree of a man, in the eye. And the lady’s small demeanor seemed to only make the cat appear bigger.

“What’s that I smell?” the old lady turned, eyes lost in thought.

“Cat pee, probably,” Aphmau grumbled as she brushed off the dirt which had coated her while she slept. 

The crazy cat lady ignored her. 

“That smell. You have a _dog_ on you don’t you? _I knew it! This is why I made my own cat island! To get away from people like you who abuse an old lady’s hospitality!_ Oh, my poor baby Mittens, what am I going to do?”

“Wait, are trying to blame me for your cat getting huge? I had nothing to do with it!” Aphmau exclaimed.

“ _Yes I’m blaming you!_ My cat must have smelled the scent of a dog and was inflicted with some kind of juju curse! This is all _your_ fault!”

Becoming more than fed up with the old lady, Aphmau couldn’t help the next words that left her mouth;

“You’re crazy.”

“Crazy? Ha!” the old woman spat. “The only one who is crazy here is you if you don’t figure out a way to fix my baby Mittens!”

“ _What?_ ” Aphmau shouted. “How am I supposed to-”

“There’s a town north of here called Meteli, It's a little ways into the bog.” the crazy cat lady crossed her arms. “I’m sure your lazy and disrespectful hide can find a shaman there that can undo this bad juju.”

“But-”

“No buts! Go! Mittens doesn’t have a ball big enough to play with, my poor sweet baby,”

Aphmau briefly considered hopping in her boat and sailing straight to Scaleswind without looking back. 

But after making the mistake of looking back at the cat, who was obviously miserable in it’s gigantic state, and the crazy cat lady trying desperately to soothe the animal, Aphmau gave a long, exhausted groan. 

She jumped back in her boat and turned around to start sailing north. 

After only half an hour of sailing, Aphmau saw a small dock to tie her ship to, that led up a hill to a visible horizon of houses and several small stone towers. 

Aphmau parked her boat on the dock and entered the village, filled with both caution and wonder at the village before her.

The village, built in accordance with the surrounding swamplands, had surprisingly well made houses made from a variety of different materials, giving the town an eclectic, almost jumbled style. It was quite unlike Bright Port or Phoenix Drop, who’s building’s aesthetics were quite uniform within each respective town. Houses of cream colored brick stood right next to rickety wood cabins and taverns with lamp posts that used some type of golden, glowing ore that seemed oddly familiar to her. The edges of the town seemed to merge with the rest of the swamp, as she saw several houses built around and with the roots of the water-dwelling trees. 

Aphmau decided that her best bet would likely be to find a guard or possibly even the Lord and ask from there. 

After wandering around the bizarre yet fascinating village, she saw a man sporting a long scabbard around his belt, leaning casually against a small cobblestone wall. 

_Bingo,_ Aphmau thought to herself.

The man must have been in his early twenties, being fairly tall with sun-tanned olive skin and impressively long orange hair that blazed in the morning sun. 

He was also quite attractive, Aphmau had to admit.

She tapped him on the shoulder. “Excuse me, sir,”

“Good evening, Milady, How may I…” The guard paused as he turned to look at her. “Oh my,”

“Hi, um,” Aphmau was worried there was something wrong with her appearance and looked down.

“I’m sorry, it’s just ever so rare I see such a maiden as beautiful as you,” His voice was silk incarnate. “A pearl from a sunken city; rare, lovely— so lovely as to steal the breath away from me.”

His statement certainly stole her breath away from her, although likely not in the way he intended. 

“Slow down there, loverboy.” 

The man gave a crooked grin and a polite bow.

“Forgive me, where are my manners. My name is Laurance, I’m the head guard here on duty, but if you need an escort around town, I’d be more than happy to find someone to take over my post while I give you a tour of our quaint little village. And if you’d like, perhaps a candle-lit dinner?” He crooned.

“That’s alright, I’m fine,” her voice came out higher than she would have liked.

“I see, perhaps another time then. What can I do for you, Angel?”

Aphmau bit the inside of her cheek. “Can I speak with your Lord?”

Something in the man’s demeanor changed. “Our Lord was… it was my fault, I failed in my duty to protect him. He was murdered. He was right in front of me, and the next thing I know there is an arrow in his back.” He shook his head as if that way he could get the image out of his head. “Right now our village is in a struggle for power as two very prominent Lord candidates are fighting for the title. I can’t say it’s going well either.”

“I see. Well, I’m looking for a shaman,”

“A shaman? I can’t think of any... wait, no-Yes, I can.” a look of dread and annoyance washed over Laurance’s face. “I’m not sure where he is, but there was a third person who was interested in becoming Lord but he was… less than qualified and much too eccentric for the position. I don’t know where he is but you could ask either Hayden or Kenmur; They’re the two potential Lord candidates and probably have a lot more information than I. You’ll find Hayden right in there,” Laurence pointed to a well polished wood building about a hundred feet away. 

“Kenmur is a bit further out to the left. Anything else I can do for you, my love?” 

“Yeah, stop calling me dumb pet names,” Aphmau grumbled. 

Laurance let out a sharp laugh. “I love a girl with a hot temper and a quick mouth. I pray we meet again soon. If you happen to need anything else, you can always,” He bent down and made his voice go much more sultry “- _feel me up for information,_ ” 

Aphmau took a step back. “ _Thankyouhaveaniceday,_ ” she garbled out and walked away as fast as humanly possible. She could hear the guard laugh a bit more as she paced off. 

She found herself walking into the modest, half timbered house Laurance had pointed her to. 

The room was clean and open, with the only furniture being a polished mahogany bench underneath a window on the right side of the room. On the left, however, spanning three walls were rows and rows of swords of varying sizes, shapes, and even colors. 

“Are you here to speak with Sir Hayden?” a female guard from the corner of the room spoke in a firm voice. 

Aphmau gave a shy nod at the woman, who looked at her with steely, unyielding eyes. 

The woman opened the door to a separate room and motioned her inside. She cautiously stepped forward and heard the door close just a tad too strongly behind her. 

The room she walked into was well lit with a well sized window on the right hand wall that allowed the afternoon sun to gleam inside. In the center of the room, there was a man somewhere between his late forties and mid fifties sitting at a large redwood desk working on some unknown paperwork, dressed modestly in a leather vest and white undershirt. 

The man raised his head and looked at Aphmau expectantly. 

“May I help you?”

“I’m sorry to be a bother, I don’t really know my way around, you see,”

“New to the village, eh? What can I do for you?”

Aphmau coughed into her hand and straightened her posture. 

“I’m looking for a shaman,”

“Shaman? You don’t mean,” The man made a sound of resentment. “Guy went nuts a while back. Not entirely sure what happened to him but he’s shacked up somewhere on the outskirts of town. That’s all I know of him unfortunately, the man caused me a lot of trouble and was known to be a disturber of the peace. Might want to be careful around him. Is there anything else I can do for you, Miss?” 

“No thank you, that’s all I need,” Aphmau gave a polite bow of her head and exited the room.

The guard was still standing at her position in the corner of the room, Her eyes boring into Aphmau for a few moments longer, before walking into Hayden’s office herself. 

Aphmau looked at the many rows of swords again. One sword in particular caught her eye, a clouded ore that almost looked purple in the light. 

Aphmau put the clouded sword in her sheath and left the ice blue sword she had been given in its place, before leaving the house without so much as a moment’s more hesitation.

Aphmau decided it wouldn’t hurt to go visit the other Lord candidate, Kenmur, she recalled.

The house that Kenmur resided in was similar to the one of the Lord candidate she has just visited, albeit slightly smaller. There was also no separate office, just one long L shaped room with a wood partition that went across half the room. On the other side of the partition she could see two men; one of them older, with a full grown blonde beard, standing dutifully in the corner. The other was much younger, with tousled brown hair pulled back by a pair of goggles. He was sitting at a desk behind the partition, and similar to Hayden, seemed entirely focused on paperwork in front of him. 

“Excuse me?” Aphmau shyly called. “I’m looking for a shaman,”

The young man looked up from his papers, finally acknowledging her presence.

“A shaman? I’m sorry ma’am, the only one I know around here is,” The man made a sound identical to the one Hayden made when asked the same question. “I honestly don’t know where he is. He’s just… too weird to be in proper society. He stole all of the chickens around here and replaced them with corn. I can’t help you due to my lack of information, you have my sincerest apologies.”

The guard in the corner of the room spoke up, “You're looking for the Chicken Shaman. That’s what the locals call him. There’s a small, _very small_ , village north of here. That’s where you’ll find him.”

Aphmau’s shoulders sagged in relief. “Thank you very much,”

“However, I recommend you wait until morning to travel there, I wouldn’t want to be caught out there at night with the alligators and Irene knows what roaming the forest.”

Aphmau gave a long sigh, but still thanked the guard for the information. 

Rain began to pour that evening just before she checked into a small inn, as if the world was trying to do everything in its power to keep her from her goal. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well we finally got to see our favorite lover boy! Not 100% how long the next chapter is gonna take, I pre-watched the episode and I'm gonna have to change a bunch of stuff around in order for shit to make more sense. Anyways, Love Y'all! Comments are always appreciated <3


End file.
